Returning Grace
by OutstandinglyAverage
Summary: Like many I was confused by the game's ending; so I decided to write my ideas on what Joel and Ellie may have been thinking. From there it accidentally turned into a story about life at Tommy's, how they will adjust and how the quiet life may turn out to be not at all that quiet. This is my first ever story, so please send me your impressions, positive or constructive!
1. Chapter 1

"…I swear".

What could she say? She knew full well he was lying to her; it wasn't exactly difficult to put two-and-two together. You don't go from going through… everything they had gone through, to waking up from being drugged, in a hospital operating gown, being driven out of town with no explanation. Something was wrong, and Joel was lying to her. It surprised her how upset that lie made her, and by extension, how frustrated and angry she became at Joel. Why couldn't he just be honest with her?

It was blatantly obvious now they would've had to operate on her to get the cure; otherwise they wouldn't have needed to dress her in a gown and put her under. But why? The infection attacks the brain, she knew that much, did they really need to open her head? It was a scary thought; she certainly hadn't thought they'd need to do that. Would she have been the same person when they got the cure from her? Would they even have survived the operation? It didn't matter now. Joel had made that choice for her. He had saved her. She didn't know from what, but he'd done it…and condemned the human race at the same time.

But why? She'd spent her entire life on her own, with no one to give a damn about her, no one to… well. Safe to say the only brief respite in her life had been Riley, and she'd died thanks to this god damned infection, too. Tess, Sam, all of them apart from her. She had nothing to live for; _no one_ to live for. The Cordyceps had taken everything from her; there was no excuse _not_ to give her life for a cure, and eradicate the damned infection once and for all. She'd spent her entire life stranded and alone for this cure; it was her chance to finally give meaning to her life, and make sure that everyone's deaths weren't meaningless. That everything they'd been through hadn't been meaningless. But Joel had taken that choice from her.

But…that wasn't quite true, was it? Ever since the hospital there had been something in her head, niggling away at her, threatening to get out. The only thing stopping her thinking about it was her obsession over thinking about what might've happened. It consumed her, and had made her quiet and reserved, she knew that. Joel must've noiticed it, that was the only explanation as to why he was rambling about how great and perfect life was going to be when they got to Tommy's. But the more she spent time with him, the more she realised she was allowing her feelings to take over, and recognise she was becoming how Joel used to be. Reserved. Resentful.

The more she thought like that, and the more Joel opened up, the harder she found it to suppress that niggling feeling. It was eating her up. She couldn't help but wonder, if she was truly, _truly _annoyed with Joel for lying, why had she waited until now, the very last leg of their journey back to Tommy's, to question him? She'd angrily told herself a dozen times on the way from Salt Lake City that she should just force him to tell the truth, but instead she'd waited all this time. She knew why; it was because now she had comfort and security ahead, while unknown danger, sacrifice and god knows what else behind her. She knew that she only dared to ask now because she was scared he might admit he lied and tell her the truth, and that she would feel obligated again to seek out the cure. What did that say about her? Was she weak? Did the reason even matter anymore?

She tried to reassure herself; of course, the Fireflies hardly gave her a choice either. In a way they were as selfish as Joel; she'd never even seen the hospital never mind anyone inside, they'd drugged her up and got ready to dig in her head the first chance they got. Like she was just a means to an end. But she still couldn't shake this niggling feeling.

She looked at Joel now as he wandered lazily through the forest. You'd never think this man babbling about guitars and swimming was the same tired, disillusioned, resentful individual she'd met back in Boston. He'd changed. He'd clearly found something that had changed him, and Ellie knew that thing was her. He'd found purpose again through her, almost like contrary to his words last fall, he really did see her as his daughter, now. After all, she only had to think about everything he'd done for her. She didn't know how that made her feel.

Ellie suddenly realised, looking at Joel, that his actions at the hospital were never about making her mind up for her. They weren't even about saving or condemning the human race. When he saved her, he was simply doing the one thing that was more important to him than anything else in the world - he was protecting her. This realisation shocked her; that he would go that far to keep her safe, even when she didn't want him to. She cringed to think what would happen to Joel if he lost another daughter; it had taken him 20 years and one hell of an ordeal to let down his wall and care about someone else. If Joel was anything he was stubborn, and she knew he'd rather die than let anything bad happen to her, even if the human race was at stake. Well, she thought, that's what caring for someone means, right?

But; he'd lied to her. Sure he was trying to protect her, but it was still a betrayal of her trust, a trust that she didn't even know she had in her heart to give. She really had been alone all her life, with the only guiding words written by her mother on the day she died. "Life is worth the living", she said. Eerily similar to Joel's remarks about finding something to live for, both trying to convince her that she should enjoy life and cherish it; hold on as long as she could. But that wasn't the point. It _wasn't _about finding something to live for because she'd _never_ had anything to live for. For as long as she can remember people had only wanted to use her for their own ends. Be it a military grunt, a cure for everyone's problems, or just…food. Even Marlene; her mother's best friend, just saw her as a tool to advance her own schemes;no one had ever been there just for the sake of being there. Just to…help her. Anyone that had was already dead, or had left a long time ago. So who cares if she lives or dies?

The niggle came back with that last thought, even stronger this time. _But that's not true, is it, Ellie?_ It said. This last year someone had looked out for her, hadn't they? She _had_ found something to live for, someone who was willing to die for her not because she was important to the world, but because she was important to _him._ Joel had found someone worth caring about again for the first time in 20 years, and she had accepted his care with open arms. Hell, he'd tried to convince her to drop the journey and go home before they'd even finished; what was that if not caring for someone? Was it fair to say she still had nothing to live for?

The truth was, she'd had plenty of time on the journey back to think things through, and she still didn't know what side to land on. Maybe the Fireflies were wrong after all. Even if they did get a cure; what would it do? If there's one thing Ellie had learned from her journey it was that the infected weren't the only monsters out there. What were the chances that the hunters would just hang up their guns and come over for tea if the cure was successful? As if she had to work them out. Probably the only thing the cure would do is make it easier for people to get on with killing and eating each other.

She just wished Joel hadn't lied to her. It had taken her 15 years to find someone to make her feel wanted, and no sooner had she realised that and he was already betraying her by being dishonest. She wished she could turn back time and undo it all so she could trust him again and start off on the right foot. As it was, she needed to make up her mind whether she was going to forgive him, or confront him. And she'd better do it soon, because it was already eating her up inside. She could tell, and so could Joel.

For now, at least, she resolved, for the first time in her life, she could be safe. Properly safe, and probably happy too, if that's what she wanted. She could stay at Tommy and Maria's and figure things out, and start making a few decisions by herself for once. Until she knew how to react to his dishonesty, she resolved to be thankful for his protection and care, and remember that he really would do anything for her, no matter what the cost. For the first time in her life she had someone to look out for her, and she wasn't going to waste that.

"I swear", he had said.

"…okay", she replied.

Whether she could accept her new family or not, was another story.

* * *

Joel nodded, and turned back to the town.

She knew full well he was lying; he could see it on her face. It broke his heart to see Ellie standing there, but there was no other option. He wasn't going to tell her the truth any time soon, he knew that much. After everything they'd been through, a hoard of bloaters wasn't going to stop him from protecting her, even from herself. The similarity between Ellie and Sarah really was striking, and how many times had he seen that look on Sarah's face, too? She'd been just as wilful back then, wanting to take the world on, do everything at once and not think of the consequences. Joel knew all too well that being a parent meant sometimes having to take one for the team, and it was his job now to not let Ellie think that she was to blame. Even if it meant that Ellie lost faith in him for a time, it was always better than the alternative, and Joel would earn that trust back. He vowed to himself, he would work to earn the trust of that girl for the rest of his days, if only it meant she never found out the truth.

It didn't even matter if she believed him, as long as she didn't know what had almost happened to her in that operating room. What he'd had to do. All that would do is bring back everything, her guilt, and her misplaced determination that she had to do the right thing. Even though deep down she'd never want to sacrifice herself, she'd feel like she'd have to. This was a better way; to tell this one lie and bear the consequences so she could finally let go of her history, and finally seize that one thing that she'd always wanted but never had in her tumultuous 14 years in this devastated world; love. Joel knew Ellie feared being alone more than anything else in the world, but now she was here, she could finally be safe, surrounded by people who wanted to help and protect her, instead of use her and dispose of her as nothing more than a means to the end. Here she would see no more violence, no more desperate yet necessary acts of brutality; Joel thought with pride that she'd never again have to be alone. Even if Ellie didn't believe him, even if she hated him for it, he didn't care. The lie was worth that much, at least, if he could give her all she'd ever wanted, and abolish her fears forever.

They walked down the final path to the town in silence, a sudden air of tension between the two of them. While the birds sung in the trees, the sun beat down through the leaves, proclaiming together that summer had truly arrived. Joel watched as Ellie, a few paces in front, idly ran her hand over a fallen tree trunk, before snatching a dead twig from the ground next to it and absentmindedly swatting at the tall grass. He guiltily wondered what thoughts must be running through her head right now.

Time enough for that soon, he thought. After months on the road, and over a year of trials, hardship, loss and discovery, they were almost home.

As they reached the closed and barred gate, Joel could already see significant differences in the area. The whole place looked….cleaner. The fortifications had been extended, guard towers had been erected; the whole area seemed more efficient, and most importantly, more lively. It looked like Tommy and Maria had been putting the dam's resources to good use. Joel went to knock on the huge steel gate, eager to see his brother and put an end to this journey; put an end to Ellie's hardship once and for all.

But before he could get close to the gate, a voice rang out above him.

"You! Stay where you are! Don't move a muscle!"

A guard had appeared on the parapet above the gate; rifle aimed squarely at Joel's head. Joel raised his hands slowly and stepped back from the gate, as he quietly ushered Ellie close to him; her stick abruptly forgotten on the floor. Noticing the guard was but a boy, Joel called up to him;

"Easy kid, we don't mean no harm. We're friends.", said Joel.

"Yeah? Whose friends?" the boy nervously replied, his rifle waving in agitation.

"Tommy and Maria", Joel replied cautiously; "Tommy's my brother." He knew he had to tread carefully. Him and Tess had dealt with their fair share of over overzealous guards in the past; an unexpectedly dangerous bunch. Seasoned fighters were easy to predict; could be reasoned with, but boys like this were unpredictable and prone to let their nerves get the better of them. Thinking you could bully them around due to their inexperience was likely a sure fire way to get a bullet in the neck.

"Hah! You just want me to go and fetch the two most important people in the town just for you two? Sure! Maybe after that I'll go and play hide and seek with a clicker too!"

Joel turned to roll his eyes at Ellie, but before he could say anything else she'd already stormed right up to the front of the gate.

"Hey, this is Tommy's brother, shithead, and he helped save this town just last year!" She yelled, pointing an accusing finger up at the now visibly perturbed guard.

"Ellie –" Joel began,

"…we've travelled halfway across the country to get here, and faced things much worse than you on the way, so you'd better show some god damned respect and either open this gate or find someone who actually knows what they're doing!"

Stunned, the guard was momentarily speechless. No doubt he had no idea what to think about being berated by a girl he'd never met. _He_ was the one that was supposed to be doing the berating. Quickly he regained his composure;

"I don't care if you've travelled from Europe to get here, I've never seen your face before, _girl, _or his, so if you think I'm going to do anything apart from tell you to go back to where you belong, well you've got another thing coming!"

"Good god", Joel muttered. _Who talks like that?_ He waved his hand at Ellie. "Come back here, don't aggravate him." His hand resting on Ellie's shoulder next to him, he spoke to the guard. "And as for you; how many hunters have you seen with teenage girls, before? If we really were hunters, you think we'd simply stroll up to the gate and put ourselves at your mercy? Listen to me; we're freindlies. Send someone to go and find Tommy and tell them Joel is here. If he doesn't run straight to this gate himself, I'll leave and never come back."

"Joel!" Ellie started, spreading her arms wide in defiance.

"Trust me, Ellie", murmured Joel, not taking his eyes off the kid.

The guard, clearly disturbed by this turn of events, said nothing as a wave of indecisiveness crossed his face. Finally, he turned to say something incoherent to someone behind the gates, before quickly bringing his rifle back up to aim at Joel.

"Just keep your hands where I can see them. I see you reach for that rifle of yours, I won't hesitate to shoot"

"Of course you won't" sighed Joel, omitting to mention the two revolvers, shotgun, nail bombs and molotovs that were in his backpack.

"Jeez," mumbled Ellie, scowling defiantly "'Keep your hands where I can see them?' Who is this guy?"

"Just be patient; sounds like we're in business," Joel murmured back.

"Uh-huh".

"Take a look around out here. Look at those burn marks on the grass, and these shell casings. They're being too overcautious; I'd bet they've had trouble here; and recently too, by the looks of it."

It was true as well, there _had _been trouble here. Hunters or infected, he couldn't tell, but at least now he understood the expanded fortifications. Joel hoped this place was as safe as he'd thought it would be.

A short while later, the two of them heard sounds of shouting. As the voices came into hearing; he heard people rapidly approaching the gate.

"…almost a year ago you damned useless fool, what do you expect! Go, help them get those gates open before I throw you both in the reservoir!"

Joel and Ellie looked at each other; that voice could only belong to one person. Tommy.

Suddenly, the gate gave a shriek of ungreased metal, and began to open inwards. There was barely enough of a gap for a man to walk through sideways before Tommy himself strode out of the gate, with a look of pure joy on his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he started he saw Ellie, and stopped in his tracks. Joy turned to astonishment, which finally gave way to a huge grin on his face as he looked at the two dirty, bedraggled people stood before him. "You son of a gun", he said as he rushed forward to embrace his big brother,

Just like he had so many months ago.

Ellie watched on while the two men patted each other's backs, and then as quickly as it started the show of affection was over, and Tommy held Joel by the shoulders.

"You two are a sight for sore eyes; look like you've been trampled by a horse" he chuckled.

"Yeah, well, not all of us have the luxury of electricity you know; some of us have to make do", retorted Joel, a twinkle in his eye.

"Sure, my heart bleeds for ya", Tommy joked, but though he smiled, his eyes were full of sorrow, as he suddenly said; "I thought I'd never see you again, brother".

"Yeah", replied Joel, looking at Ellie. "Us neither."

**Chapter 2 coming soon**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey folks; the real story starts here. This is where my exploration of Joel and Ellie's thoughts and feelings at the end of the game began to move towards a narrative storyline, so although there will still be lots of characterisation and inner monologues, I also wanted to tailor a narrative out of it as well, to lend the story a sense of progression and activity, rather than just ramblings. For now, however, in this chapter, Joel and Ellie begin the slow process of attempting to let go and adjust to civilised life, as well as learn a little more about where they've chosen to hang their rucksacks, as it were. **

**As I said, this is the first time I've ever tried something like this before, so any critique, positive or constructive, is more than welcome!**

* * *

Ellie returned Joel's gaze for a second before smiling emptily and turning away. Joel nodded and looked at Tommy. "Never thought I'd see you again". Those words rung truer for the both of them than anyone else would ever know; both of them had come within a hair's breadth of losing the other, more than once.

Ellie was deep in thought when she suddenly heard her name called. She blinked off her glazed over eyes and ran through the giant steel gates to catch up with Joel, Tommy and Maria. The view was nothing short of astounding. Ellie had never seen so many people all in one place before, and certainly never so active. There were people everywhere she looked; all hard at work. As they travelled together down what could probably, with some effort, be called the main road through the town, Ellie tried to look every way she could to take in everything at once. It was overwhelming.

The road ran from the gate they'd come through and wound lazily through the contours of the landscape, passing the neat rows of dilapidated two story houses that the town originally consisted of before the outbreak, as well as muddled clumps of shacks and temporary housing. Ellie noticed that most of the houses had some form of garden, some quite large, that had been given over to agriculture of some kind, and even more people were busy working in the fields sowing seeds, ploughing dirt and tending crops.

"You were lucky you caught us down here really" , Maria was explaining. "we've just got back from checking the turbines up at the dam. We've got more of them up and running than ever now; it's more than coping with the demand of the town, big as it is."

"Yeah, good thing you _were_ here, thanks to a certain _someone_", Ellie muttered jabbing her thumb behind her towards the disappearing gate.

"Yeah, sorry about the welcome", replied Tommy, without emotion. "Poor kid's only just got here from some QZ that fell recently. He's been a little…over sensitive, but we need the men. Still, you won't how much progress we've made in the past few months Joel; we're seeing new people arrive every few months. Jackson's up to almost 300 people, now."

Ellie noted how Tommy had changed topics so quickly, and thought back to the shell casings she'd seen on the ground outside the gate. Maybe the problem was worse than they thought. As if reading her mind, Joel replied;

"Sounds like your town's really makin' a name for itself, little brother. You get much attention?"

Tommy laughed, as he shared a look with Maria. "Always the keen observer ain't you, brother. Yeah, guess you picked up on that." Tommy sighed, "sure, we've had our fair share of problems, same as any place. Nothing worse than when you last visited, though. Don't you worry, you're both safe here. We can handle ourselves."

Ellie smiled at that; "when you last visited". As if they were nothing more than neighbours, instead of a long lost brother and his tagalong kid who'd spent the last year busy slaughtering infected and hunters, when they weren't desperately evading death themselves.

It was strange to see how at ease Tommy and Maria walked, almost without a care in the world. Almost.

The four of them continued their walk through the vegetable fields and towards the town centre, Maria and Tommy walking ahead and leading the way, both calling out greetings to the townsfolk they passed, Joel and Ellie following behind as they both observed the thriving town. Joel passed one house that had a rickety wooden enclosure attached to the side, which held a flock of chickens and three fat, pot bellied pigs with a man busy dishing out swill and batting away the chickens who got under his feet.

Fairly quickly, however, the houses gave way to more mercantile endeavours as they reached the centre of the town. They walked past a house that had been converted into what looked to be a general goods store or ration house of some kind. Down side alleys Ellie spied a whole world of secret industry, a brick warehouse that had been converted to what was advertised as an ironmongery, a carpenter's workshop that had covered half of the alley in sawdust and wood shaving, and even a stout two story building that looked suspiciously like the bar her and Sam had played darts in back in Pittsburgh.

As they passed through a small open area that must've been the town square, Ellie overheard Tommy pointing various landmarks out to Joel as they walked along; including the mess hall and the makeshift town hall where he spent, in his opinion, far too much time sorting out everyone else's problems. Ellie realised the more time she spent here that the casual attitude she'd sensed in Tommy and Maria's walk was everywhere; it was in the town itself. She could hear a myriad of different noises she'd never heard before; people shouting and laughing as they chatted the day away, tools busy at work, animals crying, children running, the sounds were as numerous as they were unnerving to her. Even in Boston QZ, where she thought life was as normal as it got, people had never been relaxed like this. It was a concept she couldn't quite get her head around, the idea of security on such a large scale.

She realised now there had always been a hushed atmosphere of tension back in Boston, people scurrying from door to door, never hanging around outside for too long, many even too scared to talk openly in the privacy of their own homes. Here, things were completely different. There were perhaps three or four dozen people milling about the town, but instead of the expected cowed mood, the sound of life was deafening to her. It was exhilarating. Is this what life was like, real _life_?

"You tryin' to catch flies there, girl?" remarked Joel, eyebrows raised as he gave her one of his rare full on grins. Ellie was suddenly jerked back to reality and realised her mouth was hanging open in astonishment. Suddenly losing her excitement again, she quickly checked herself and flashed a brief smile back. She still had a lot to think about regarding the way Joel had treated her, and she still didn't know what to make of it. He certainly seemed a lot calmer than she did now they were home, but then again the feeling for him must be completely different. After all, he'd seen all this before; had a life before the outbreak. Had Sarah. Ellie felt a sudden sadness for the dark haired giant walking next to her, and despite herself in that moment, couldn't help but reach out and touch his arm.

* * *

To Joel, the feeling of this town was indeed very different. Unlike Ellie, he wasn't puzzled by the sounds of the citizens milling about, the second he heard those sounds on the wind he knew he recognised them straight away, as the sounds of civilisation. _True _civilisation not the stifling, repressive martial regime of the QZs.

Joel was suddenly put in a strangely familiar situation, one he wasn't sure he was comfortable with. The striking similarity between the atmosphere in Tommy's camp and life pre-outbreak reminded him too much of the past, and filled him with an intense longing for days gone by. "You always find something to fight for". That's what he'd said to Ellie not an hour ago, and right now those words rang truer than he cared to believe. For months after that…that night where the world ended, he'd struggled with himself; only living thanks to his own cowardice at being unable to take his own life. Even now, 20 years later those memories burned inside him like a demon, making him recoil. For years he'd sat alone, utterly alone, incapable of thought or emotion or action. He'd become embittered with the world through his grief; in a desperate act to avoid feeling the heartache of his loss, he'd shut out all feeling instead, and in doing so had become nothing more than a killer and a smuggler, the last shreds of his humanity buried deep, deep inside, repressed by his refusal to deal with his daughter's death.

But suddenly, instead of Ellie finding something to fight for, _he_ was the one who'd found something worth fighting for. Something worth dying for, in fact, and he still wasn't sure what he was supposed to think about that. He'd damned mankind for her, and would do so again in a heartbeat, but he couldn't get over the fact that by denying the world a chance at redemption, he himself had been redeemed from his suffering. Sara's memory would always be with him, of course. He would always bear the burden of his past. But it was manageable now; he could live with it, and in doing so, he'd regained his humanity. He just wished with all his heart that Ellie could, in time, do the same. The irony of him rediscovering his life while Ellie became ever more reserved did not elude him.

They finally turned from the main road and headed up what must've once been a small residential cul-de-sac, lined with more pre-outbreak houses. As they walked along the cracked tarmac, Joel noticed the grass that would normally be sprouting all over the place had been trimmed back neatly off the road.

"I've got to admit, Joel", said Tommy, leading the way, "We're both glad you're back for more than one reason."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" queried Joel.

" You might've noticed but we're desperately short on accommodation", began Maria. "This was only a small town to begin with, but now we've got too many bodies and too few houses. Most families are sharing rooms right now, we're trying to build more houses but progress has been slow."

"That's why you'll be staying with us for a few days; it's the downside to having such a big population", bragged Tommy. "We're fillin' up so quickly we just ain't got the room."

"But with your help…" Maria began, sheepishly.

Joel laughed at the suggestion; "You're tryin' to put me to good use already, I can see that much."

"What?" said Ellie, sensing this somehow involved her.

"Well", said Joel, "I don't know if I ever told you, but before everything, me and Tommy used to work in construction. I was, you might say, a bit of a handyman. I did a lot of contracting work"

"And a damn good one, too", piped in Tommy.

"Contractors were people who'd hire others that were skilled in a certain job to help them with building projects, and pay them for their services. So, I'd be hired to help build things for people; houses, apartment blocks in the city, anything like that. Looks like our dearest little brother plans to make use of my skills."

"Huh," replied Ellie, doubtfully, "Weird. And…a contractor could get a person to do anything?"

Tommy and Maria looked at each other; not used to the naivety of a child born after the outbreak.

"Well, of a sort. There were specialists in all sorts of things; plumbing, gas technicians, electricians, decorating, all sorts. As I said, I did a little bit of everything. See, people had other commitments back then. Life was a lot faster paced so they didn't have time to learn to do everything themselves, thanks to work deadlines…" Joel trailed off as his thoughts suddenly whirled back to all those times he himself had to put work before his family.

"Here", Tommy called, stepping in and leading the group away again. "we're nearly there; this way". Joel looked at Ellie and clapped her on the shoulder. Before long the group had arrived at the last house on the cul-de-sac; positioned at the end of the road with the front door pointing down the street. Wood-panelled, with considerably peeling eggshell blue paint, it was slightly larger than the others on the road. It had a large garden that stretched around both sides of the house, given over to what looked like vegetable plantations, and fenced with chickenwire. A front porch complete with white painted fence enclosed the front door, with wooden steps leading up to the porch itself.

The home had clearly been taken care of as best as possible, as evidenced by the refurbishment and patchwork that, although expertly done (likely by Tommy), still stood out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the house's slowly decaying state. Nonetheless it looked a great deal cosier than most places they'd slept during their travels, and Joel was suddenly impressed with Tommy's initiative and leadership.

"This here's mine and Maria's place;" he gestured behind him. "As I said, you can stay with us until we find you a place of your own."

Ellie's eyes widened. It wasn't luxurious, but the plain fact that someone was willing to have her in their home, a real home, as a guest was probably as alien to her as all the happy, relaxed faces around town. Joel was similarly overwhelmed; the idea that he would be staying in his little brother's marital home was one he never thought would come true. Nonetheless, he shook his head;

"No, we can't stay with you two. We couldn't put you out like that"

"Put us out?" laughed Tommy, at the antiquated phrase. "now there's an idea I've not heard for a long time. No, you're staying with us and that's final. Now get yourselves inside, both of you, go on."

Joel himself didn't know why he'd suddenly spurted such an old, clichéd pleasantry; probably due to being suddenly surrounded by civilisation again, he reasoned. He gazed down at Ellie and felt another pang of guilt; he expected her to be excited at the prospect of staying here rather than sleeping rough yet again, but when he said she could head in to check it out, she gave an incoherent mumble as a reply, and slowly strolled inside.

"Don't worry", Maria said, misconstruing Ellie's demeanour. We'll get you a place of your own soon enough; give you and Ellie some privacy."

_That can't come soon enough_, Joel thought. Him and Ellie had been over a year on the road, the overwhelming majority of time spent alone. They'd gotten used to each other's company in the wild, and learning how to relax and feel secure around other people was going to prove deceptively difficult for him, he knew.

As he pondered, he heard a sudden shout of delight echo from the house "Oh my god, Joel you have to see this!" Joel looked through the bottom floor window and spotted Ellie, suddenly excited despite herself, playing with the remote control for a TV. As he observed, Tommy strolled over and clapped him on the shoulder.

"I'm glad you're here, brother. Real glad. We needed this, I think. We all did."

Joel frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

"This is amazing!" echoed Ellie's voice again. "Does it actually work? Joel! Get in here!"

Tommy laughed; "forget it, you're being summoned. Good luck with that!"

"Yeah, laugh it up." Replied Joel with a sparkle in his eyes. "We're in your house little brother; now she's your problem too."

Smiling fondly at he didn't quite know what, Joel picked up his backpack and strolled towards home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey folks, thanks so much for the feedback so far; it's nice to know that other people enjoy something I really only did for my own entertainment. **

**This one's a little shorter, mainly because I'm getting more and more busy at work at the moment :( The good news, however, is that with every chapter I get a more solid idea of where this is going. So yeah, I've got that going for me. Nonetheless this chapter's probably the most dramatic I've written yet, and deals with some pretty heavy stuff with Joel, so with this story's pretty heavy focus on characterisation I can only hope I did a good job of getting across his feelings. Enjoy!**

* * *

After Ellie had thoroughly inspected Tommy and Maria's house (including claiming their spare bedroom as her own and expressing her astonishment at their possession of a working refrigerator), she finally flopped down on the single, saggy green couch in the living room, and gave out a sigh. Eyebrows raised absently and lips pursed as she looked vacantly around the room, it seemed her enthusiasm at the idea of staying in such a luxurious house was short-lived.

Joel was more pleased than he let on to see her regain some of her youthful naivety and enthusiasm about the world again, if only briefly, and a pang of regret suddenly hit him. He knew he'd already done a great deal for her, yet he found himself guiltily wishing that he could do more. He wished he could take away all the hurt she'd been through, if only it meant she could regain some of that youthfulness once again. Her idle humming; ceaseless questions, even the damned whistling; anything to show there was still a remnant of her innocence left. But deep down, he knew full well that Ellie had changed; hardened. Joel smiled inwardly at the irony _she's become calloused._ She may have survived, but she would never be the same girl that nearly sliced his arm open when they'd first met back in Boston. And that saddened him greatly.

Maria, meanwhile, had again picked up on Ellie's demeanour, and asked her if she'd like to see how the horses were getting on. Ellie's eyes went wide as she jumped off the couch.

"You still have them?" She asked, excitedly.

"Sure", replied Maria. We have a whole stable. We've been breeding them, in fact".

"Do you mind?" Ellie asked, looking at Joel.

"Go ahead", Joel replied, pleased to see she seemed to have cheered up, if only temporarily. "Just stick close with Maria."

"I know", she replied, before leaving the house heading back down the way they came with Maria. Joel noticed with interest that she'd picked up her rucksack again before she left. _Still not secure,_ he thought.

Suddenly he was left alone with Tommy, and let out a sigh as he looked around at the bland, faded pictures on the wall.

"Whatever happened to that nag you stole from us, anyway?" Came Tommy's voice, knocking him out of his reverie.

"Oh…it, uh, it died. Hunters. I'm sorry." Joel didn't mention how it happened, or what it resulted in. He wasn't going anywhere near _that_ particular subject; at least not yet.

Tommy's eyes were full of questions, but he let it pass, deciding instead to take a seat on the couch.

"Shame. That was a good horse. One of our best, actually.", he said to the wall.

Joel took a seat next to his brother, wondering what to say, and how to say it.

"She's got good intuition, your good lady", he said.

"Hah, she sure has. Comes in handy sometimes; other times it just bites me in the ass."

"Knowing you; it's mostly the second."

There was another long silence, before Tommy finally started;

"The girl...she seems… distant."

"Yeah", Joel growled, scowling. He supposed now was as good a time as any. "It's…it's been a hell of a journey, Tommy. A hell of a journey. She –"

Joel was surprised to find his voice was actually catching in his throat. He paused and gave out a sigh; Tommy watching him patiently, and tried again. This time the words began to tumble out of him, suddenly desperate to make someone else understand;

"It's been hard. Real hard. Damn near impossible sometimes, in fact, but that girl's like nothing I've ever seen. We've both escaped death, too many times, but she is stronger than any of us ever gave her credit for." Joel's voice wavered as he carried on, knowing that he needed to tell this story, but knowing that he could be just about to set Tommy against him all over again.

"We went to the university. It was abandoned, brother. Empty." Tommy's mouth dropped open in shock, and tried to form a word but Joel silenced him. If he stopped now, he'd never be able to talk about it.

"We…ah…were ambushed. I fell. Two stories, straight onto a rebar. Damn well skewered me like a kebab."

"Jesus!" exclaimed Tommy, eyes wide in shock.

"I thought that was it. You just don't survive that kind of thing; you know that. But she did it, Tommy. She damned well did it. I have no idea how; I told her to run, but she came down those stairs like nothing I've seen, clearing out the hunters and helping me to my feet. I could barely walk, was damn well pissing blood but she still shot us a path through, and helped me all the way to the exit. Got us to the horse before I collapsed from blood loss. Could barely see never mind ride. But she didn't stop there, either. She somehow got us to safety, and treated my wound."

At this Joel lifted up his shirt to show Tommy the puckered, uneven scar. "God knows how she knew what to do, but she did it. Even Tess, my old smugglin' partner, would've been hard pushed to get us through that single handedly. Never in my life have I seen anything like it before; she fought tooth and nail, and she did it for me. She's just somethin' else."

Tommy's face was white. There were a few seconds of silence before Tommy finally managed; "And that's why she's been so distant? Jesus I'm not surprised Joel, she shouldn't have t-"

"That's not why."

"It's not? Then what is it?"

"We… carried on. And we found the fireflies.", Joel said, eyes boring a hole in the cold, weathered floorboards. He was going to skip winter.

Tommy looked like he was struggling to keep up, but managed to gain a glimmer of hope; "You did? So, what then? The cure?"

Tommy saw the look on Joel's face and was suddenly deadly serious. "What is it?"

"She was unconscious when we arrived. There was a flood…she can't swim. I was trying to do CPR when some damn Firefly knocked me out cold. When I came to, I was in the hospital. Marlene was there. I asked to see Ellie, but she said no. Said I 'didn't have to worry anymore', that 'they'd take it from here'".

Joel shook his head. "Turns out that was just some bullshit excuse. They were prepping her for surgery. Bastards hadn't even bothered to revive her, just pumped her full of drugs and carried her straight to the operating room."

"They wanted to kill her, Tommy. They were going to kill, no, _murder_ a defenceless little girl, and dig out her brain. Like savages; no better than Hunters. Marlene gave the go ahead, said they needed to extract the fungus from her brain, and that was the only way they could have any chance of reverse engineering a cure."

Joel could see Tommy struggling in disbelief; muttering curses and shaking his head. He saved Tommy the bother of asking what happened next.

"I said no. And I stopped them."

"What do you mean, you said 'no'?" questioned Tommy, standing up, suddenly wary, distrust in his eyes.

This time, Joel didn't avert his gaze. He didn't need to justify himself to Tommy. He didn't need to justify himself to anyone. He stood up and looked his brother dead in the eyes. "I _mean, _I stopped them."

"They were going to kill her. Didn't even give her a choice; I wasn't about to let that happen."

"Joel….what did you do?"

With eyes made of stone, Joel stared at his brother. This time, his voice did not waver. This time, he did not fumble his words.

"I killed them, brother. I killed them all. Marlene, too. And I brought my baby girl home."

Tommy stumbled; physically floored by Joel's revelation. He grabbed the wooden mantelpiece for support as he gasped. Joel had, with the drop of a hat, condemned the human race, murdered everyone he'd fought with for years, as well as the woman who had mentored him and taken him in when he was still practically a boy. He whirled over and grabbed Joel's shirt, dragging and throwing him against the wall. His brother gave no fight. "Jesus Christ, Joel! What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you know what you've done? Why would you do that?"

Joel pried Tommy's hand off his shirt with a vice-like grip. "Because she's worth it. I did it because that one little girl is more important than handing her over to a group of terrorists on the brink of extinction, to _maybe_ find a cure and _maybe _manufacture enough to stop the infection. I did it because she deserves more than that; because what you're doing here is more meaningful than any cure could be, and because she needs me more than the world needs a cure. I did it because I owe it to her."

Joel paused and finally broke eye contact.

"And because I_ need_ her_."_

"Yeah, real charming, except for the whole human race you've damned to die!" Tommy scoffed, as he paced agitatedly around the room. " Jesus. I can't believe this. And Ellie? What does she think of your newfound heart?"

"She doesn't know."

Tommy stopped pacing and looked at Joel again."Excuse me?"

Joel simply stared; not even an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, this just gets better!" Tommy shouted, shaking his head. "She doesn't know!"

"No," Joel said, changing suddenly from emotionless to aggressive. "And she _won't _know, not until I decide otherwise. Got that? Far as she's concerned there are dozens of others like her out there. As far as she's concerned, the Fireflies have given up looking for a cure."

"Hah, given up, sure, that's one way to look at it. And you really think she believes that?"

"It doesn't matter. The fact is she _wants_ to believe it, at least for now."

At this, Joel finally let his demeanour soften; the hardest part of the conversation done. He walked from the wall and placed both his hands on Tommy's arms, looking into his eyes.

"I'm asking you, as my brother, to understand me. Put yourself in my shoes," Joel said, voice beginning to waver again, "I've travelled the breadth of this country and back, and faced more than I ever care to see for the rest of my life, however long that may be. I've protected that girl from things you can't even imagine. She has been through some deeply, _deeply _traumatising shit, and I've protected her through all of it. You can't possibly understand how important she is to me. Knowing that, could you do it? Could you honestly sacrifice an innocent young girl who has gone through what she has… who's saved your life more times than you can count? You know why you left the fireflies, brother. Could you give up someone like that for a half-hearted promise from a bunch of dying, self-centred terrorists?"

Tommy's eyes lost some of their fire at that, as he backed away.

"I…I don't know. But that doesn't make what you did right."

"Little brother; I know what I did wasn't right. I'm not askin' for forgiveness, and I don't need to absolve any goddamn guilt. I know what kind of person I am, and I couldn't care less about redemption." Joel thought back to Tess' last words to him. _Guess what? We're shitty people, Joel, _she'd said. And wasn't _that_ the truth.

"That ship sailed a long time ago," he continued. "This is my burden to bear, sure as sure, and I'm happy to bear it for the rest of my life. I'm happy to take on anything if it gives Ellie peace. So I'm not askin' for forgiveness, and I couldn't care less about your approval. All I'm askin' is for you to put yourself in my shoes, see why I did what I did, and just help me protect her."

Tommy sighed, defeated. Joel knew he would be furious for a long time yet; but he also reckoned that Tommy knew firsthand how hard it was in this age to find love, and be able to feel affection for another human being. It was beyond rare; that's why he'd asked him to put himself in Joel's shoes. What would he have done if it was Maria? Would he have made the decision to sacrifice her, without her ever knowing what had happened? Joel could tell as soon as Tommy sighed that as much as Tommy despised himself for thinking it, he had to empathise.

Besides; Tommy had ran with the Fireflies; he knew exactly what Marlene was like. What were the chances of her sauntering up to each QZ and simply handing over the cure? No, there would've been demands, and sacrifices and arguments and more than likely, it would just start another war that no one could afford. Maybe humanity really was past the point of no return.

"This won't end well, you know", Tommy said, simply.

"I know", Joel replied, but I'll deal with that when I need to."

For now, Joel just wanted Ellie to take some time to stop and recover. It wasn't just him that had faced challenges; Joel knew all too well what haunted Ellie's mind when she went quiet. He'd heard the muttering in her sleep. He knew because he, too, still saw images of that burning restaurant in his head, in the quiet of the night. There wasn't a chance in hell he'd ever betray Ellie further by spilling that particular secret. That was one wound that was still too raw to touch. He'd told that lie for Ellie's own good, and if that meant she hated him for the rest of her life, if it meant that for now, she could have a little peace, it was worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Folks, thanks as always for your positive reviews; I've said it before but it really does make my day when I see someone new that gets some enjoyment out of my ramblings that, contrary to my own opinion, do appear to make some sense. **

**The good news is that I now have a very solid idea of where this story is going to go; which is surprising to me as a couple of weeks ago this was nothing more than a whole load of aforementioned ramblings, so the fact that I've managed to organise my thoughts briefly enough to set everything out in a decent order is a feat unto itself.**

**Less certain is how long this story will be; you may notice that at the moment the focus is more on the development of the characters, rather than the development of the plot. This should begin to change over the course of the next few chapters.**

**But for now, just enjoy the ride as Ellie has an epiphany of sorts, and the group settle down for their first night security – and electricity – in a long, long time. Enjoy!**

* * *

"So", Maria said, as she brushed down one of the horses in the converted van depot that housed the makeshift stables. "How're you doing?"

It was an empty question, they both knew, but Ellie guessed that as confident as Maria seemed; kids weren't exactly her strong suit.

"I'm fine", Ellie replied. She knew the unasked question hanging in the air and for some reason, she continued,

"It's just… it's been a pretty heavy year. And after it all, things didn't exactly go to plan with the Fireflies either. I…guess I still don't know what to make of it all."

" Oh…"

"Yeah." Finished Ellie, not really knowing what else to say. It wasn't as if she felt like she couldn't talk to Maria; she'd certainly been there for her last time, when she'd needed to talk to someone about her anger at Joel wanting to pawn her off. Maria had consoled her, and explained the connection between him and Sarah. But for some reason, something was making her hesitate in telling Maria about her suspicions of Joel.

"Still", Maria ventured. "You're home now, and safe. We'll look after you here."

Ellie nodded half-heartedly. That wasn't really the point. Joel gave her all the protection she needed, and besides, she'd seen and learned a lot. She didn't need or want to be mollycoddled.

They worked on in silence; the only sound permeating the quiet was the distant sound of the bustling town and the occasional whinnying of the horses.

"Maria…" Ellie started, hesitantly. "Has Tommy ever lied to you?"

"Oh, sure, when he says he didn't have the last of the cow's milk, or tells me he'll be home by eleven", she said with a smile. Ellie gave a forced chuckle before returning to the horse.

"But…I'm guessing that's not why you asked", Maria said, after a pause. She put down the brush and beckoned to Ellie to sit down on a wooden bench in the corner of the converted van depot. When they had both sat, Maria looked at Ellie and began;

"You know, before the outbreak, people didn't live their lives so plainly, like we do today. Nowadays everything's black and white, just a matter of surviving or dying, but it never used to be like that. We didn't have constant danger and starvation at our heels, and that meant people acted differently; in what would now would be considered as strange ways, but back then, made complete sense. You follow?"

Ellie's eyebrows furrowed. "When we were in Pittsburgh, Joel told me that women used to chose_ not_ to eat, because they _wanted_ to be skinny."

"Hah! Yeah, well that one's definitely true, I may be guilty of that one myself. But I meant more in terms of people's relationships. Back then everything was more… delicate. Relationships were affected just as much by signals, intuition and hidden meanings, as they were by actual words and actions. Do you understand?"

"No…."

"Ok, look. Let me tell you something I've told very few people", said Maria, her mouth still smiling but her eyes becoming distant as she suddenly avoided Ellie's eyes.

"When I was a kid, my mom came into my room one night and said we were 'moving house'. Just like that. Gave some garbage excuse, said I should pack a bag quietly right now, and so on. She told me that my dad would be staying here and looking after the house, and our family dog. You can probably see where this is going. My mom and dad were getting a divorce. I only learned the truth years later, when my mom sat me down again and explained things to me properly." Maria saw Ellie's expression of concern placed her hand on the top of Ellie's, and continued on,

"See, most children were brought up in comfort, never had to experience fear, or fighting or malnutrition, so parents divorcing at that age, back in that time, was an awfully damaging experience to kids. They suddenly had to go through countless arguments, listen to all sorts of dirty secrets get dragged out of the mud, have to go to school knowing full well that everyone is talking about you behind your back.

"If you had particularly uncaring parents, you'd get dragged into it all as well, and be forced to chose between your mom or your dad. It may not seem like much these days, but going through that can have a huge emotional impact, for years to come."

Ellie listened intently; proud that Maria would reveal such secrets to her. She told her as much.

"Don't worry," she replied, "it was a long time ago in the past. The point is; when I moved away with my mom, I knew there was more to this than there seemed. Don't ask me how I knew, but I knew there was something she wasn't telling me. But I didn't say anything. Why? Because I trusted her more than any other human on the planet, and I knew that because she loved me, whatever she did, she did it out of necessity, to protect me. You understand?"

This time, Ellie nodded slowly.

"Now, then. You've been acting all dejected and downtrodden since you first arrived here, and I'm guessing by Joel's mood that this isn't just today. I'm guessing you think he's lied to you, right? That's why you asked if Tommy ever lies to me?" Ellie continued nodding; impressed at Maria's sudden show of astuteness.

"You clearly care a lot about him, and it bothers you more than you're letting on that he's been dishonest. Well, you want to know what I think? I think, maybe he's worth the benefit of the doubt. You two have clearly been through a lot and must've built up quite a bond; so do you still think he has it in him to think only about himself? Of course not. Whatever his reasons he did it for you, Ellie. He may have lied, but sometimes, that's what people do to protect the people they love."

Ellie pondered Maria's words, her stomach performing flips. _Could that really be the reason?_ She thought. _If so, has he really betrayed me?_

"Did…you ever find out what it was? That she was hiding from you, I mean."

"I did. Many years later. She told me that my dad had been beating her for years. It was then that I understood why she'd lied to me so blatantly. She'd done it because to tell the truth when I was that young, and while everything with my parents was still so volatile, would've completely destroyed me."

Ellie stared into space, processing all this information. Her eyes begun to glisten.

"I'm not trying to say that Joel is treating you like a kid; nor am I saying you don't deserve the truth. I'm just saying that when you love someone and need to protect them, sometimes it's better to tell them what they _need_ to hear, instead of what they _want_ to hear. Sometimes, you need to get a little perspective on things before you judge people's actions. Waiting until I was older allowed me the time to understand the full picture, and realise that sometimes, what you feel you want, and what's actually best, can sometimes be worlds apart."

Ellie tried to comprehend everything Maria had said, as they packed up their tools and walked home in the warm, summer afternoon. With the sun still shining down brightly on the dishevelled, yet luxurious town, she smiled at people as she walked past, townsfolk clearly curious as to this new arrival that was attracting such special attention from Maria. Townsfolk that were heading home themselves, weary after a hard day's work but looking forward to their home comforts. Could that really be the case, Ellie thought, that there was something worse out there, or something that was more important than saving humanity? Ellie struggled to think, but then of course, that was the point.

Either way, she resolved to try harder from now on, to try not to judge Joel, despite his secrecy. Maria was right; despite whatever betrayal she felt on the surface, she'd always known that deep down, Joel only had her best interests at heart. She tried to convince herself that however it may look, all he wanted to do was protect her, and that should be enough, whatever the reason. From now on, she'd try to give Joel the benefit of the doubt. At least for now.

* * *

While Ellie and Maria were seeing to the horses, Joel and Tommy were on Tommy's front porch; propping themselves up on the side and looking out over the town. There they stood, casually swapping idle chit chat and watching the townsfolk walk past, for the rest of the afternoon, watching the sun slowly descend through the trees, covering the valley with shafts of pure white light that slowly melded to a deep orange fire as the day wore on.

By the time Ellie and Maria got home their previous argument was well forgotten, and hatchets had been buried. It was clear Tommy disagreed with Joel, but he understood. How could he not? He knew what Joel had been through probably better than anyone else. After all, he'd been there. He'd seen how Sarah's death had destroyed the last 20 years of his life. It's easy for bystanders to see something and condemn it without thinking, quite another to be caught in that situation yourself. No one could ever fully understand what Joel and Ellie had been through apart from themselves, so no one deserved to judge them.

And so, he'd decided to let bygones be bygones, and simply be thankful that not only was his brother home, but he had found something worth living for again.

"Oh, I forgot to ask", said Joel, as they leant on the fence. "That horse you gave us last year; what was its name?"

Tommy frowned, puzzled. "The brown? That one was Bella."

"Bella."

"Yup."

"It was a guy."

"Don't blame me; I think some girl decided that would be a nice name when we first brought it back from the ranch, and it just sort of stuck."

"Huh."

"Yup. Why do you ask?"

"Oh…Ellie always scolded me for never finding out before we went; insisted she give it a new name."

"Oh this is gonna be good", smiled Tommy, turning away from the beautiful glow of the sun to watch Joel. "Go on, then!"

"Callus."

"Excuse me?"

"That's what she called the horse. Callus."

Instead of wincing at the unorthodox name, as well he might've done a month or two ago, Joel just smiled to himself.

"As in…callus?", said Tommy. Joel nodded his head, as if to say, _don't ask_.

"Hah. Well, there you go, then."

"There you go."

They settled back into a comfortable silence once more as they basked in the last of the day's warmth Tommy began to pass the time by pointing out to Joel the names of some of the townsfolk as they strolled past or worked in their tiny vegetable gardens surrounding almost every house. He was in the middle of pointing out one such person, when at long last Ellie and Maria returned, slowly wandering back up the cul-de-sac in the evening glow of the sunset.

"Looks like our girls are back", said Tommy.

"Yup", replied Joel, sighing despondently. He desperately wanted Ellie to have enjoyed herself, and hoped she'd had a chance to have some girl time for a change. From what he gathered on the road, despite their short stay Ellie and Maria had formed quite a bond when they were last here. Joel hoped that Ellie would come out of her shell a little more now she had other females to talk to, rather than just him.

However when she reached the porch, Ellie surprised Joel by doing something completely unexpected. In an unexpected act of affection, Ellie walked straight up the steps onto the porch and barely bothered to wave a hand to Tommy in greeting, before heading straight towards Joel and putting her arms around his chest.

"Hey Joel", she said almost to herself, eyes closed, cheeks squashed against his torso as she held on tightly. Joel raised his eyebrows at Tommy, before catching Maria's eye, who, just as surprisingly, gave him a wink.

Joel brought his arms up and wrapped them around Ellie's shoulders as he returned the hug, his eyes gaining their increasingly familiar sparkle. Then, as quickly as it had happened, the moment was over. Ellie stepped back, rubbed her nose, and gave him one of her characteristic crooked smiles. A true smile. He looked down at Ellie's dark red hair and, quite contrary to his usual gruff voice, he quietly whispered;

"Hey, baby girl."

A flash of surprise darted across Ellie's face as she was taken aback at Joel's words, but she relaxed again. They both recognised the significance of those words, the fact that it was the first time he'd ever said those words to her without any great danger in the air, or their emotions in overdrive. But to hear them then it didn't sound forced, or as if he'd overstepped a boundary. It just sounded…right. No other words were needed; Joel understood Ellie's message loud and clear, and his heart sang.

* * *

"Well, you boys look like you've made yourselves at home while we've been gone!" Said Maria, taking her cue perfectly.

"Yeah, we've got a fair few years of catchin' up to do", replied Tommy, playfully.

"Well you've got all night for catching up yet, we've got dinner to sort out. Come on!" Maria teased, swatting his arm.

"How're the horses?" Joel asked Ellie as they walked back inside.

"Oh man, they have so many now", Ellie begun, waving her arms dramatically. "And they've been breeding them too; I even got to walk a foal round the yard! And there's this huge one, biggest I've ever seen, and completely black. Maria said someone had ridden him all the way from this ranch in Texas…"

"Oh, that'll be Thunder", interjected Tommy. "Yeah he's a biggun alright; with an attitude to boot. Still tryin' to work out what to do with him."

"Nah, Joel could handle him no problem" said Ellie, patting him on the back with a grin. "They'd suit each other, both being so grumpy and all."

The room erupted in laughter, while Joel made various comments regarding Ellie's age, and it not being sufficiently high enough to avoid a clip on the ear.

"Enough joking you lot", came Maria's voice from the kitchen adjoining the living room. "If you want something to eat tonight, you better get in here and help me!"

"Well what do you say brother, you ready for some proper home cooked food?" Asked Tommy.

Home-cooked was right, too. When Joel and Ellie headed into the kitchen, they saw Maria preparing two huge, dark venison steaks, to be used in a stew, Ellie's eager questions revealed. Joel's mouth watered at the thought of real food. Even in the QZ it had been rat on the menu more often than not, but a year's worth of being on the road, with burnt rabbit and tinned peaches when there was any food to be had at all, made a real home cooked meal seem like a veritable feast.

"I think we'd best get started before I start drooling on the floor." Joel replied.

And so came the dinner preparation; yet another ceremony that was old hat to Tommy and Maria; spookily familiar for Joel and a new, alien ritual for Ellie, who was promptly handed a bigger batch of potatoes she'd ever seen before in her life, and taught to peel and cut them by Joel while Maria braised the venison on a real electric stove; one of the few ones in the town they'd managed to repair. Slowly the sun retreated behind the hills surrounding Jackson, and as darkness descended on the town, lights began to flick on all around them like stars in the night sky; pinpricks in the darkness. In the kitchen, quarter of an hour and various mutilated potatoes later, and Ellie was instead given an easier task to go and chop some carrots; which she did, albeit sulkily.

It was by no means the nicest kitchen in the world. The paint was peeling in here just as much as anywhere else, most of the cupboards lacked doors and the single appliance they did have had a tendency to cut out regularly; requiring Tommy to give it a harsh boot (and on one particular occasion scramble behind the cooker and reconnect some wires). Nonetheless Joel felt a sense of homeliness that he hadn't felt in over 20 years as they peeled, chopped, carved, boiled and simmered, all while shouting, commanding, laughing and joking together. Worries of the outside world, hunters and infected and fireflies, all melted away, and evaporated along with the steam that slowly clouded the small kitchen, misting up the windows and flooding the house with a delicious aroma of meaty gravy and herbs, and making joel and Ellie salivate so muhc that Ellie was sent to sit down at the kitchen counter, lest her excitement get in the way, while the rest of them eagerely clustered around the old, battered cooker, watching the progress intently. Joel and Tommy joked, Maria chided and Ellie simply got in everyone's way at her amazement at it all, but nonetheless the atmosphere in that kitchen could not have been more homely.

And when the stew was finally done, it may have been as thin as water, the carrots wonky and the potatoes with more skin on than off, but it didn't matter. Because when they finally clustered around the worn yet spotless table with their mismatched chairs, and the stew was dished out into the three cracked dishes (with Joel left to eat directly out of the pot), suddenly the atmosphere reched a high, as everone and took their first mouthful, tasted the succulent gravy and chewed the rich, tender, gamey venison. All was right in the world once more. Ellie and Joel both made noises that made Tommy and Maria smile at each other, then burst out laughing when they wouldn't stop, even when the meal was finally finished; second helpings and all. Ellie in particular appeared to be on cloud nine, as this was the very first time she'd experienced the bursts of flavour from real, home grown herbs, freely given to Maria by one of the townsfolk, who'd somehow managed to cultivate a small herb garden.

After the meal congratulations were given all round at the excellent skill of Maria's cooking, and the quality of the ingredients which, though by no means perfect, were fresh and plentiful. The meal, it was generally agreed, was exquisite.

Finally, when the plates were cleared and pots piled by the back door ready to take to the river for washing, it was time for the group to at last settle down on the old, green couch in the living room, where Tommy drew the thin, torn curtains and sprung yet another treat on Joel and Ellie; a movie. And a real movie as well; not one of the "Military Approved Documentaries" and war films they'd all seen countless times in the QZ's.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most DVD's had been relatively well preserved after the outbreak. Most had simply been left in their cases untouched as they held no value without electricity, and were no good for fuel or food. This meant that they had quite a wide selection to chose from; so when Ellie was given the honour of the final decision, it wasn't long before she was sat on the floor surrounded by cases, quite literally spilt for choice.

After much deliberation, Ellie finally settled on a superhero film released a couple of years before the outbreak. Decision made, they sat on the single couch in the living room, or on the floor, and settled down to enjoy the rare experience. But though the film gave all three adults a bittersweet feeling of nostalgia; it wasn't long before Joel began to realise that Ellie was didn't understand a large part of the dialogue. _Different world,_ he thought. Still, Ellie laughed at the jokes and gasped at the action scenes though she may not have completely understood, by the time the credits rolled she was once again full of questions about life before the outbreak, and amazed at the trivialities of normal life.

After they had talked for a while and educated Ellie, Tommy rose from the couch and proclaimed he had one last thing to show Joel.

"What's that?" asked Joel, rising himself as Tommy headed into the kitchen.

"Ah, you'll see. I found it one day a while back, while scavenging. Was sort of saving it; nearly got it out the last time you were here, but I reckon now's the right time."

"Okay…" replied Joel hesitantly, as Tommy banged and clattered his way around the kitchen. Finally, he appeared in the doorway, beaming grin on his face, holding two chipped glass tumblers in one hand…and an unopened bottle of _Gentleman Jack_ bourbon in the other.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Joel, eyes staring at the bottle.

"You bet it is," said Tommy with a grin. "30 year aged, unopened bottle of the best god damned American whiskey you've ever tasted in your life. I've been saving it just for this moment. Welcome to Jackson County, big brother."


	5. Chapter 5

**As always, thanks for the reviews folks; if it wasn't for them I'd have stopped wtiting this at Chapter 1!**

**Anywho this is a little bit of a busy chapter; possibly one of the most important aspects being the subtle introduction of a couple of new (huzzah!) characters that will have bigger roles to come. Aside from that we get to enjoy little more light heartedness, a touching moment and a discovery that not all is as it seems, and there may trouble in paradise. Enjoy! **

* * *

"Well aren't you full of surprises", Joel said, with devious smile. "Well what are you waiting for? Get it open!"

Tommy broke the seal of the dusty glass bottle without further ado, and let a little of the amber nectar flow into each glass. Joel was amazed Tommy had made such a find; and even more amazed he'd actually managed to hold on to it.

Unsurprisingly alcohol was one of the first things to dry out, as it were, after the outbreak. People drowning their sorrows, mainly. Alcohol was strictly forbidden in the QZ's, and the only alcohol to be found nowadays was moonshine, desperately distilled by hunters or smugglers. But to anyone that remembered life before the outbreak that stuff was barely good enough for Molotov cocktails or stripping paint; drink it and you were more likely to get a case of gut rot than anything else. Joel knew _that _just a little better than he'd like_._

As such, no-one in the room could remember the last time they'd had some real Bourbon whiskey; but seeing the sweet liquid pour viscously into the tumblers brought back some very fond memories.

Tommy handed a glass to Joel, and the malty fumes hit him straight away. It was like travelling back in time, to all those long summer nights on the porch gently strumming his guitar, nightcaps with friends and family, one time where he gave Sarah a nip when she was severely ill and couldn't sleep…

"So, what shall we toast to?" asked Tommy.

"How about family?" Said Joel, looking around the room. His eyes lingered on Ellie for a second. "And coming home safe."

"To family; and safety", chanted the both of them, as they held their dirty, chipped tumblers high in the air as if they were the finest crystal champagne flutes, before taking a hearty swig.

"And to damn good whiskey as well", added Joel raucously, smacking his lips as he felt the liquid light a fire in his throat.

"Great, now it's my turn!" shouted Ellie, getting to her feet.

"Hah, I don't think so, little lady, maybe in a few years."

Joel was instantly subjected to a barrage of protests from Ellie. His first instinct was to decline again, but then he thought better of it. _Hell, _he thought, _she's been through just as much as anyone..._ He looked at Tommy, who simply tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders. After some deliberation, Joel grabbed the bottle.

"Really?" said Ellie, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Sure", he sighed, "don't see why not. Only the one, though. And I warn you; you probably won't like it."

"Pff, I can take care of myself", she replied nonchalantly, waving her hands at him.

"If you say so", replied Joel. The three adults shared a look of amusement as Joel poured two more shots, one slightly smaller for Ellie, before picking his up and handing the other over.

Before he could take a drink, Ellie took a cue from Tommy and raised her glass in the air. Joel hesitated, before doing the same.

"To electricity!" she joked, to laughs once more.

"To electricity", chuckled Joel.

"And…ah… and to no longer being alone."

Joel's heart clenched at those words, and felt a jolt of pride shoot through him, understanding the weight and meaning behind them. He'd always known that's what scared her the most; ever since those words at the ranch house, _Everyone who I've ever cared for has left me….everyone, _except for you!_ And that's why he'd never be made to regret anything he'd done for her; not by anyone. Because he had the power to be there for her, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to use it.

Eyes smiling, he looked at Ellie as they both tossed back their whiskies.

"Arrgh!" said Ellie, coughing and spluttering, "Jesus Christ Joel, what the _ is that; it's disgusting!"

The room erupted with laughter as Ellie choked on the fiery spirit and groaned miserably.

"That's real bourbon whiskey right there, from the heartland. You did say you wanted to try it"

"Yeah, and a little heads up might've been appreciated as well, _"

"I did warn you"

"Ugh, how can you even enjoy that?"

"Don't worry, you get used to the taste", said Tommy. "besides, now you've had your first try of the good stuff; you've passed the test of adulthood!" said Tommy.

"Huh?" she replied, coughing, looking at Joel.

Joel looked at Tommy as if to ask why he'd just condescended her; but realised with a chuckle that he did have a point.

"Well, he's got a point", Joel said. "Back in the day you weren't allowed to drink alcohol until you were 21, you know."

"What? That's stupid."

"Sure, which is why some parents introduced their kids to it earlier. It was, ah, I dunno, a symbol, I guess. Allowing their kid their first drink was kind of like the parent's way of saying they thought their kid was mature enough to take that step on the road to adulthood."

"So does that mean you think I'm _mature _now?" Ellie said, teasing.

Joel started to laugh but hesitated as he realised what Ellie had just said. She'd asked him if he thought she was mature enough to drink.

As if she was his daughter.

Joel's heart skipped a beat as a wave of panic inexplicably overwhelmed him. Where had that come from? Was that really how much she thought of him? _Is that how I think of _her_?_ With that thought, his hesitation abruptly vanished. _Actually, _he realised with a start, _yes…._

Joel was suddenly overcome again, this time with care and affection for her. He'd had no idea up until now how much she cared about him, or just how much he cared about her. He knew that that the relationship they'd built was strong; strong in a way that only traumatic experiences like theirs can bring. And that was true; but what he'd never realised is that while their companionship may have been forged in the fires of strife, it had been tempered by their pasts. Their desires and their fears combined had acted to influence and shape their relationship. _No matter how hard you try; you can't run from your past, _is what he'd said to her, and that was true. He'd spent 20 years running, and all of a sudden Ellie had come into his life. She may not have healed that particular wound, but she'd given him hope, just like he'd given her hope by never giving up in her.

But now Joel finally understood what he'd been missing all along. Their relationship had become more than Joel protecting Ellie, or Ellie bringing back Joel's humanity. Now it was something more, and yet something resoundingly simple. They needed each other, and they had each other. That was it. She was his family, now, Joel thought, with a lump in his throat.

She was his daughter.

Ellie looked sheepish as she saw the expression on Joel's face, and suddenly realised herself the weight of what she'd just said.

"Um…" she said, suddenly realising herself and looking away.

Joel set his tumbler down and approached Ellie, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You know what", he said to her, as she stared at the ground, "I guess you _are _pretty mature."

Ellie looked up, and gave him one of the most heart-warming smiles he'd ever seen, as her eyes met his.

"Thanks," she said, in earnest.

Nothing more was needed.

* * *

Not long after the film ended, Maria announced she was going to bed, as she'd been up earlier that day. Ellie stayed up, despite Joel's reservations, but soon began to fall asleep on the couch anyway, so Tommy found a thin blanket and allowed Joel to cover her, before the two men retreated outside to the porch once more.

Joel took up his previous position and looked out over the tranquil night sky; the world completely silent save for the sound of the insects, the nearby river and the odd snippet of activity from another house. Joel looked at the lights glowing in the darkness, each one a symbol of both hope and triumph.

"She gonna be ok in there?" Asked Tommy, referring to Ellie.

"Sure. We've spent most of the last year sleeping in ditches, on floors and in one particular case, in a sewer drainage pipe after being trapped there by a bloater. I think she'll be just fine". Joel said with a shudder.

"Hah. Sewer pipe, eh? Bet you had some makin' up to do after that one."

"You have no idea. Heard about it for weeks."

The two men fell silent as they leaned on the side of the porch, staring out at the tranquil town. Few lights were left on at this time, but Joel could still make out the dark silhouette of the odd person walking home casually, in no rush or fear despite the darkness. It was a pleasing sight.

"Interesting day", mused Joel.

Tommy chuckled. "Yeah, not exactly what I had planned when I woke up this morning, but can't say I'm not relieved. We were worried when you didn't come back all through winter."

"Hmph, you worried about me, now there's somethin'."

Another silence settled between the two of them. It seemed like Tommy was debating something, and sure enough he shortly sighed, before turning to Joel

"You know, when I said we needed this, needed you two to return, I weren't lyin'. Things've been difficult here. We've been having a lot of trouble with hunters and infected; the noise from the power plant and the light from the town are attractin' folk from miles around.

"Like flies 'round horse _", Joel said, mimicking their often used phrase when they were younger. "How bad is it?"

"It's bad. We've managed to keep going, but it's not getting any easier. People are getting worn down; morale is getting' low, and still more people are coming in, even though we can barely house and feed the ones we have. Those marks you saw outside the gate? You're right; that was another fight. Infected, a whole god damned bunch of 'em. One actually managed to get in before we could close the gates. Someone got bit. We…had to take care of him."

Joel shook his head despondently. "That's why security's so strict. I'm sorry, Tommy."

"Don't worry about me, I can still keep everything together. But you, you can help change the tide of things. We need good men."

"Tommy…"

"How many years have you been smuggling? 15? 16?", pressed Tommy. "You could help defend us, raid a few of the nearby hunter camps or infested areas, maybe."

"I didn't come here to fight hunters and clickers, Tommy", Joel said, irately. "I came to get _away_ from the fighting. To give Ellie a chance to be normal, for once. Maybe I can help build a few houses, scavenge for supplies or train your men. And if push comes to shove you know I'll have your back. Hell, so will Ellie probably. But I ain't joining no militia, and I ain't going on any goddamn raids. I'm done with that."

Tommy hesitated, his eyes looking away. " Well…it's not just that. We've had problems inside the fence, as well."

"What do you mean?"

"Not everyone really agrees with the way I do things around here. Sure, most're just happy to be safe, but there's been a few…debates. People thinkin' they know better than everyone else."

"Debates?"

"Suppose you could call 'em that. There's a few kids with bright ideas; most're nothing more than that; kids. But there's this guy, Oliver", Joel saw a scowl forming on Tommy's face.

"Never should've let the _ and his group in. He arrived a few months ago, with women, and children in tow, all lookin' like they'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. He claimed they'd escaped a group of hunters and needed shelter. And it was true; to a point."

Tommy shook his head. " What I didn't know, at least until a few days later, was that they used to be _with_ the hunters; not their victims."

Joel's eyes widened. "What did you do with them?"

"What could I do? The kids looked half dead, Joel. I couldn't throw 'em out again. But there's a lot of people that don't like me for it."

"Can't think why."

"Look, they've mostly kept to themselves. Occasionally they…try to take things into their own hands, but we've managed to keep them in line for the most part. Sure they may be a bit more…rough, but not all hunters are evil, Joel. We should know that better than most"

Joel winced at Tommy's words, and a dark cloud suddenly settled over the two men; memories of past actions, many years ago. _That's when you see what people are really capable of,_ thought Joel.

"If it was them on their own, I could handle them. But the other problem is this girl, Juliette. She's become practically a god damned gang leader, and she's becoming more outspoken every day."

"What the hell does she want?"

"A lot of the people we've got here used to be…ah…they used to be slaves. Juliette came here a long time ago with a big group; all women; all slaves."

"Oh…" said Joel, lost for words. He didn't need to be told any more.

"Yeah. Well, Juliette got fed up one day and managed to stab her captor in the eye with a shard of glass and lead an escape. Since she got here she's goin' round takin' any ex slave that comes in the town. Problem is, she weren't too pleased when she found out she was livin' in the same town as hunters, as she still calls 'em."

"You don't say", said Joel, holding his head in his hand.

"Come on, how was I supposed to know?", protested Tommy, desperation clearly in his eyes. "Look. I'm out of my depth here, alright? Everything's calm at the moment but tensions are getting' higher every day. One group of rabble-rousers I can handle, but two? They're constantly at each other's throats; if we don't do something we could have a damned gang war on our hands.

"I understand", said Joel. And he really did; he knew his brother, and knew he hated the idea of leadership, or responsibility. That was one of the reasons he'd joined the fireflies in the first place, to get away from his familial obligations. In truth, Joel was surprised Tommy was sticking it out.

"If I'm honest, supply situation's probably just as bad, if not worse, We still ain't got running water here, and the farms, helpful as they are, barely provide for us. We're managing ok; but something needs to change. And I know how to do it."

That piqued Joel's curiosity. "Oh, do you now?", he asked.

"I do. Let me show you tomorrow. Just give me one chance to show you what we're capable of here, with a little effort-"

"You mean risking my neck, don't you."

"-and if you still don't like it", continued Tommy, uninterrupted, "you can lay down your rifle and go and build houses or grow carrots or whatever you want, and I won't bother you. Hell, I'll encourage you. Deal?"

"Fine", Joel grumbled, after a moment's thought. "But I'll hold you to that", he finished, pointing an accusing finger at his brother.

But already Tommy was back to his original, cheerful self. "I don't doubt it, brother!" he said, downing his whiskey.

"Tell you what", he continued, slapping his hand on the wooden side of the porch. "You've just been bumped up the list. Tomorrow we've get some people moving into their new accommodation; how's about Ellie tags along with Maria, and she can chose one of the empty houses as your new home?"

"Now that's more like it", replied Joel with a grin, as he downed his own whiskey.

"Nightcap?" Tommy asked, with a grin.

"Oh, I think it'd be rude not to."

The two brothers sat and talked and drank as the night stretched on, no longer talking about their problems and their tribulations, but casually swapping stories of their adventures, and quietly laughing with each other, feeling like a pair of secret conspirators in the dark. Finally, when only one solitary light was left on in the town, Joel decided to call it a night and head back inside. Tommy placed the now half-empty bottle in the kitchen before heading upstairs, while Joel carefully and quietly plucked up Ellie, still sleeping on the couch, into his arms, and carried her upstairs to her bedroom.

After laying her down on the stiff yet comfortable bed and tucking her into the fresh sheets, Joel turned back to the door, planning on going to rest on the couch. He'd just opened the door when he heard Ellie mumble quietly behind him;

"No…Don' go…"

Joel smiled as he heard the girl ask him to stay. To be honest, he'd been thinking a similar thought. After all, they hadn't slept apart in the year since they'd met each other, and when he thought about it, he too found comfort in her presence, so he could understand why she'd want him near. It was probably more true of him than he'd realised. Sighing contentedly, he pulled the single wooden chair in the room over to the bed, and sat on it before propping his feet up on the corner of the mattress. He took one last look at Ellie, peacefully asleep already, before closing his own eyes and slouching into the chair.

"Sweet dreams, baby girl", he rumbled, before drifting off to sleep almost instantly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey folks; thanks again for all the encouragement. This story seems to have experienced a little boon in popularity with the last update, so hopefully I'm doing something right! I'll try and keep updating as often as I can, however as always I apologise in advance if I can't provide regular updates all the time. Having just completed Left Behind as well I've obviously learned a lot more about Ellie, and her back story. I haven't quite decided yet if I'm going to let the events of the DLC change or have an impact in the story (one event in particular…those who've played will know what I mean), but I know that a few people have expressed an interest in seeing Ellie develop relationships with people more her own age, so we'll see.**

**Luckily my writing style is pretty chaotic and unorganised; I don't have anything planned page-by-page, just a rough guide. So, if it feels right to explore that particular avenue with Ellie, then that's what I'll do. In the meantime however; read on! This chapter adds a little light heartedness, but don't let that fool you, as though these introductory chapters have been quite laid back; the action is now beginning to ramp up….**

* * *

Next morning Ellie awoke to find a slumbering, recumbent Joel curled up awkwardly on the rickety wooden chair in her room. She was pleased to see him there as she woke up, more pleased perhaps than she expected. Joel had proved himself to her time and time again out in the wild, but she hadn't realised just how much of a reassuring presence he'd become until she'd suddenly become surrounded with people. Now she was fully rested and seeing things with the light of day, she thought back to her drowsy request for him to stay with her and cringed at how clingy and childish it sounded.

But rather than feel stupid, she felt curiously flattered and grateful that he hadn't treated her like a child or told her to grow up; he'd just done what she asked him, no questions asked. It was another symbol of their mutual trust and care for each other.

Joel was almost always the first up; getting breakfast ready and packing away their meagre belongings, so it was unusual for her to be awake before him. She decided to let him lie in for once, as she gently slid from under the covers and tiptoed over to the door, before easing it open and softly going down the stairs.

Ellie was beginning to wonder what she was going to do with herself; for the past year every day she'd woken to the prospect of a long, hard day's walk, and if they didn't encounter anything that was life threatening, well that was just a bonus. However before she had time to think for long, she heard sounds of activity from the kitchen. Rubbing her eyes, she went to investigate. As she opened the door she was immediately hit in the face with a myriad of different aromas, and through the steam and smoke saw Maria, busying cooking breakfast on the battered stove while Tommy stood at the back door. Both suddenly looked around at the disturbance and saw Ellie standing in the doorway, still dopily blinking the last of the sleep out of her eyes.

"Ellie!" Started Maria. "Good morning! How was your first night off the road? Sleep well?"

"Uh-huh", replied Ellie through a yawn, as she took a seat on a wobbly stool at the breakfast bar.

"Joel not up yet, I take it?" asked Tommy.

"Nuh-uh", she mumbled, shaking her head.

"Yeah, boys stopped up till all hours of this morning talking and drinking", said Maria, raising a pointed eyebrow at Tommy, who simply shrugged innocently.

"Guess they deserved to relax for a while", Ellie finally said, feeling herself wake up as the invigorating smells and the comfort of last night's sleep combined to work their magic on her tired body. She hadn't realised just how exhausted she'd been.

"Sure, everyone deserves some time to unwind. Even you", Maria added. "And now you're both here, you'll finally get that chance."

"Speaking of which, what are we even going to be doing here?" Asked Ellie, her previous misgivings creeping back. "Not that I'm not glad to be here or anything.", she added, as an afterthought.

"Hah, I understand", picked up Tommy. "After going through everything you two have, it's always going to be difficult to adjust to our kind of lifestyle. Well you and Joel just need to get some well earned R that's rest and recuperation to you and me. Just relax, explore, maybe make some friends."

"Sure", replied Ellie, quietly. Making new friends was not exactly high on her agenda; not with her track record. And in truth, she had no idea what she wanted to do with herself. It was easy enough saying she should relax and unwind, but she realised now that it was proving difficult to adjust. After living out in the wild where you always had to be on your guard for whatever was going to happen next, the calm of the town unnerved her. If she was being completely honest she was glad that Joel had decided to stay with her last night, because she was still uneasy in this place.

Misunderstanding her, Tommy carried on; "I'll introduce you both to everyone else at some point, if you like. But trust me if it's work you're lookin' for as well, we've got plenty to keep you busy. Might even have a couple jobs for ya today."

"Really?" questioned Ellie, looking up.

Tommy explained his and Joel's conversation from last night, and told Maria and Ellie his plan.

"But what am I gonna do?" asked Ellie. She had a feeling that wasn't a job for her, but didn't relish the idea of being away from Joel again, and wandering around town all day by herself.

"Don't worry; I gotcha covered", replied Tommy. "Maria was going to help some of the townsfolk relocate from the townhouses to the new cabins we've been building on the other side of the river today; I thought you might like to go help her"

"Oh, joy" replied Ellie sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Oh I wouldn't look so glum", Maria said with a smile, "Once you've relocated them there'll be plenty of townhouses that'll need repopulating with new families…" Maria trailed off; raised eyebrows hinting.

"You… mean…. We can get our own house?"

Maria nodded with a smile, and suddenly Ellie's face beamed as realization took hold.

"No way…are you serious? That's so cool, I never thought we'd get one so soon!"

"Well you're family now, and we take care of our own", said Tommy.

"Exactly", continued Maria. "But if you want to do it today, you better go and wake up that sleeping giant up there and get him down; breakfast's nearly ready."

Ellie spun round and plodded happily back up the stairs, suddenly feeling like a weight had been lifted. _Maybe this won't be so bad_, she thought. As she went back into the bedroom she saw that Joel was still sound asleep. She leant on the door frame briefly and enjoyed this rare moment; watching as Joel slept peacefully for once. Something she hadn't seen him do in a long, long time.

Smiling at his tranquillity, she finally tiptoed over and prodded him softly in the arm; to no response. Frowning, she jabbed him sharply in his ribs, but to her frustration the gentle giant simply rolled over in his sleep. Frowning and huffing, she finally grabbed his grizzled arm and shook, until Joel's heavy breathing finally changed.

* * *

Joel, slowly opened his bleary eyes, and looked around the room.

"Hey", said Ellie with a smile, when he spotted her. " You're alive after all. You're impossible to wake up you know that?"

"Yeah, well", said Joel, blearily. "You try sharing a bedroom with a younger brother; you learn to sleep through anythin'."

"Well unless you wanna sleep through breakfast you better get u-up!" teased Ellie, teased Ellie in a sing-song voice.

Joel swatted at her lazily before stretching out; the rickety old wooden chair creaking beneath his weight.

"Hmm, or maybe you should just skip breakfast", Ellie added; looking at the chair and mockingly raising an eyebrow.

"Well aren't we just the little comedian", Joel said impassively, as he stood up. "Besides, rather a bit of muscle than skin and bones!" he added, suddenly lunging to pinch Ellie's side.

Ellie shouted and darted back out the door before Joel could reach her. She headed back down the stairs; threatening to eat his portion if he didn't come quick. Drowsily, Joel rubbed his face in an attempt to wake himself up, before yawning with a noise more akin to a bear than a human, and following her downstairs.

A few minutes later and all four were once again around the dinner table (Joel and Tommy looking ever so slightly worse for wear), tucking into double helpings of bacon and eggs; another welcome home treat from Maria. As they ate they talked about the prospect of Joel and Ellie getting a house to themselves, with Ellie assuring Joel that she'd chose wisely.

After breakfast Ellie was suddenly eager to go. She quickly dashed upstairs to grab her pack while the adults themselves prepared for the day; absentmindedly making small talk as they went. But soon enough Ellie was stood back in the living room being handed some papers by Maria; what looked like lists of names.

"Here Ellie, hold these", she said. "That's the list of everyone we're moving today, and I swear they'd better all be packed up and ready to go this time or I'll have something to say."

With that, Maria turned and opened the front door; flooding the gaunt living room with bright, warm summer sunlight. Ellie peered out at the clear blue sky, apprehension suddenly furrowing her brow.

"See ya later, I guess", she said to Joel. "How long will you be?"

Joel understood the hidden meaning. She hadn't spent more than an hour away from him since last winter, and suddenly she didn't relish the thought of being left alone again; even in friendly territory.

"Don't fret", replied Joel, seeing the concern in her eyes. "I won't be far away. Besides", he added, with a ruffle of her hair, "I have a feeling you'll have enough to keep you busy as it is. Go on, now, get off with ya, I'll catch up with you later".

She said one last hasty goodbye to Tommy, before giving an equally rushed hug to Joel. Flashing a smile, eventually she turned and disappeared through the front door, Maria hastening her as she went.

After Ellie had gone, Joel and Tommy grabbed their things themselves. However, Joel was taken by surprise when Tommy handed Joel his rucksack and hunting rifle, before taking him to saddle up a couple of horses. Wondering what was happening he asked Tommy, but Joel was surprised to see his brother had suddenly become inexplicably enigmatic. Nonetheless Joel's suspicions were confirmed when Tommy lead him out beyond the fence, away from the town and off along the cracked tarmac of the old road.

Curious, Joel followed Tommy in silence as they casually rode for 20 or 30 minutes; seeing no one except a guard patrol that Tommy greeted casually before moving on. Soon enough, however, Tommy stopped the horses along a seemingly unremarkable patch of land; before leading them off the road and into the woods, along a previously unexplored route.

"Thought we were goin' to look at this special plan of yours?" Asked Joel, as their horses walked through the forest, tall trees either side shading them form the bright summer sun.

"Sure, and this is it!" Called Tommy, leading the way in front. "Came up here a few weeks ago with some guys, scouting for hunters after the last attack; thought they might be holdin' up somewhere. Didn't find any of 'em, but we did find something else", said Tommy, cryptically.

After a brief silence Joel took the bait.

"Well go on then, what was it?" he asked, irritably.

"Another town". Said Tommy with a sly grin, suddenly spurring his horse forward to a gallop.

Joel dug his heels into his own grey's flanks and began to fly through the forest after Tommy; trees whipping by either side in a blur as they headed slowly upwards towards the summit of a steep hill. The thick wall of trees around them began to thin out as they reached the top, and by the time Joel finally caught up to Tommy they stood on the crest of the hill together, looking down at the sight before them.

"It's smaller than Jackson", said Tommy, gesturing to the tiny village neslted in the wide valley below them. "The forest must've completely reclaimed the road, which is why we never knew about it until now."

Gazing for a moment at this new discovery, Joel could see how this village not 20 minutes outside of Jackson could've been missed. It was barely three or four streets wide; with perhaps two or three dozen houses and very little else to shout about. But despite its stature this was an impressive find; it looked relatively undisturbed, and it was well hidden. Tommy clearly had a plan, but as they set off back down the hill towards the town, Joel noticed that he was still keeping his cards close to his chest.

As they lazily wound their way down the hill and back into the now deep, overgrown forest, Joel questioned Tommy again on his intentions.

"You remember Harry?" Tommy started. "He was one of the engineers at the dam last time you were here. Well he's basically adopted that dam as his own kid; been up to all sorts of tricks to m ake it work better and bring the other turbines back online. Guy's a genius with a wrench. Soon as I told him i'd foun d this place, he had an idea. Went and showed me these...plans, something, I don't know where he found them"

"Well it turns out these schematics are some sort of map; a map of power cables that run over the entire county from the dam. See what I'm saying?" asked Tommy; barely able to contain his excitement. "It's not just Jackson the plant used to provide for, Joel! It used to supply the whiole county! Harry's counted possibly six other towns that we don't even know about. Six! And this is one of them!"

"So, it has electricity as well." Joel acknowledged.

"You bet. What do you think?"

Joel heard the unasked question in Tommy's tone, and considered the implications of Tommy's plan.

"Well…" he finally said, "It's easy to defend. Hard to find thanks to the trees and practically impossible to sneak up on thanks to the lack of any road."

"So, you think it's possible?"

"Look, it's an _idea_", Joel stressed, looking at his brother. "We're also a long way from Jackson. It'd be difficult to communicate."

"Sure, to begin with. but we have radios, and just think; two bustling towns full of people!" replied Tommy. "We could seperate Juliette from that bastard Oliver; give her and the girls somewhere safe to stay and let _me _concentrate on watching that little snake."

"Sure, but then who would watch Juliette? From what you've said she sounds just as dangerous." Joel pointed out. "Have you even been in there properly, yet? Do you know what sort of state the houses are in?"

Tommy turned to Joel and nodded his head towards the town, a glint in his eye.

"Not yet. Wanna find out?"

Without waiting for an answer, Tommy again spurred his horse forward; leaving Joel to play catchup. Eventually, they reached the town and were surprised to see few signs of a struggle. There were no barricades, and very few signs that the infection had even been there at all, aside from the abandoned cars and ever-present signs of decay. The silence, after the all the sounds of Jackson, was eerie. Joel had quickly gotten used to the bustle of the people and the rush of the river, but riding through town with nothing except the crickets in the hot summer air and the hoof beats on the tarmac was jarring to him.

Still, both men were pleased to see that the houses here were probably in a much better state than some of the ones that had been patched back in Jackson. Very few had broken windows, and although all were peeling, there was little sign of panicked destruction or rioting, as was all too common in the big cities.

"Probably because it was such a small town", reasoned Tommy as their horses cantered down the street.

"Maybe they all evacuated early, or left when the power stopped", agreed Joel.

"If that's the case; there it may well be clean", said Tommy. The two brothers stopped along the end of the main road, dismounted and tied up their horses to a nearby bench as they went to explore.

As Joel was peering through the window of a small house, he heard a shout from Tommy. Turning around he saw his brother near the end of the street; investigating what looked like a small glass-fronted convenience store; probably one of the few non – residential buildings in the town. As Joel approached, Tommy turned to the door.

"Could be stuff left in here, if everyone left in a hurry", he pointed out.

As Joel pushed open the front door to the shop, a faint jingle could be heard above him. Looking up, he saw a tiny, tarnished bell ringing dully from the opening of the door, sprinkling minute specks of dust all around. Joel chuckled at the anachronism of the bell, and thought how he'd explain what it was to Ellie. He looked around to see Tommy examining the store's goods.

"Ugh", he said, idly picking up a 20 year old carton of milk from a refrigerator. "looks like a lot of this stuff was fresh. Where's all the canned stuff?"

"Probably near the back", answered Joel with a sigh. "Maybe they have a store room; I'll take a look."

As he wandered to the back of the shop Tommy continued his supportive investigation, by looking at the magazine rack. With a laugh, he picked up a yellowed, crumbling men's lifestyle magazine.

"Hey Joel, remember this?" he asked, waving it around.

"Hey, don't let Maria catch you reading that", Joel muttered, wandering past the stairs behind the counter leading up to what must've been the store owner's house.

"Ah, come on. Man, not seen one of these in a while", Tommy reminisced, flicking through the pages.

"Mmhmm," replied Joel, as he tried the handle of a door at the back of the shop. It seemed to be stuck, so, assuming this was indeed a storeroom, he braced his elbow against the door and heaved.

The wooden door gave, but only slightly. It felt like something was piled behind the door. Joel heaved again, and it budged a little more. With a grunt, Joel heaved one last time and the door suddenly came loose and swung inwards. As Joel stumbled through the doorway he just had time to glance at what had been blocking the door before it fell away down the steps before him, leading down into the cellar.

Joel saw the broken, consumed body tumbling away. He saw the innumerable fungal plates and tubes that covered it from head to toe, and saw the tell tale pale clouds in the air, released by the disturbed body as it crashed noisily down the wooden steps. With a lurch, his heart froze as he stopped himself from falling down the steps himself. Thinking quickly, he held his breath before beating a hasty retreat into the shop and over to Tommy; still admiring the magazine.

"Oh shit...Tommy…TOMMY! Gas masks, now, now NOW!" Joel said, hushed but urgently; fearing what he had disturbed in the contaminated cellar.

"What?" Said Tommy, looking at Joel, puzzled. "What's goin' on?"

"_Spores_! In the stairwell; now _get your god damned mask on!"_

Realisation suddenly dawning on Tommy's face, he let out a groan and suddenly scrabbled in his backpack for his own mask. The two men quickly slipped them on over their faces.

Quietly, they crouched together, sandwiched between the counter and the magazine rack, not moving an inch, waiting, listening for any other sound; suddenly consumed by the same fear. A hearbeat passed. A second. Then a third.

Silence.

Tommy, practically paralysed with fear, began to let his muscles drop and let out a sigh. But before he could try, Joel suddenly grabbed his shoulder hard. Then, they both heard it. Unmistakeably, this time. Deep below them, a rumble, and a shuffle. And then the thing they'd feared the most; an all-too familiar clicking.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi folks! Many apologies for the delay in uploading recently; hopefully I'll be able to bribe you with an extra long chapter to make up for it. I _was_ planning on leaving last chapter's cliffhanger hanging, as it were, for a little longer, but that would just be mean, so this chapter will focus on Ellie dealing with a couple of uncomfortable situations, as well as a return to Tommy and Joel's 'predicament'.**

**As always, thanks for all your kind words, as well! It's been mentioned that my grammar and spelling isn't always perfect; for which I most sincerely apologize (my inner grammar Nazi is deeply ashamed). I do take pride in it, obviously, however du****e to my long work hours I do mainly write and upload this while I'm at work, so don't always have the time to proof-read as much as I'd like. However for the sake of saving everyone's sanity, I'll endeavor to keep a closer eye.**

**Anywho; on to the story. As always, I do hope you enjoy, and please feel free to leave any criticism, positive or constructive. Thanks!**

* * *

Ellie headed out the front door of Tommy's house tailing Maria; squinting in the warm, bright summer sun, slightly cheered up but still apprehensive about the long day of moving ahead. _Still,_ she told herself, _at least we get a house to ourselves after all this._

As it turned out, they didn't have far to go. The original town of Jackson wasn't that large; consisting of the main street that bisected the town, a few residential streets, probably three dozen original townhouses and a handful of buildings that Ellie reasoned must've been local amenities of some kind. The rest was either crude shacks or, as Ellie was soon to see, custom built houses.

It turned out they were moving nine families today; 26 people in all. They were all living cramped together in just four houses similar to Tommy and Maria's; two-story with front and back gardens, along a road that backed on to the river. Ellie noted the condition of these houses compared to Tommy and Maria' more bare wood than there was paint, and more than a few windows in each house were broken. _Still, _Ellie thought to herself, as she looked around n_ot a bad location._

As Maria knocked on each door and asked the families to come onto the road with all their belongings; Ellie's job was to check off each name on Maria's list as they came out the door. "Make sure there's no one extra, and _especially_ no-one missing", Maria had told her, "and make sure they have all their belongings with them. And feel free to give them a kick if they need it; give some of these guys an inch and they'll take a mile. Don't let them mess you around."

Ellie took Maria's advice seriously; and she performed her duties the same. She was initially distressed at having to organise so many people at once, and felt slightly embarrassed at the idea of telling people what to do when she hadn't even met them before. But soon enough she realised it was a job just like any other, and an important one at that. Knowing all too well what the danger of a missing person could mean, especially if they were infected, Ellie made sure she accounted for every last person.

Nonetheless as she worked, her mind began to relax into the steady rhythm of checking names and counting heads, and she soon forget completely about the anxiety she'd felt at leaving Joel for the whole day.

After that realisation she proved to be especially good at her task; and as advised by Maria she put more than one person back in their place when they tried to convince her they'd been assigned one of the nicer houses because "they were friends with Tommy".

Once she was nearly done, Ellie was busy performing a final headcount on Maria's instruction when she realised one name on the list, a Marcus White; 7 years old, was missing. Suddenly concerned, she began to search for the missing kid.

"Hey, do you know where Marcus went?" She asked a man, idly leaning against a crooked lamppost.

"Who?" he asked, absentmindedly.

"7 year old kid? Says here he's been staying in this house but he's got no family; you know where he went?"

"Oh, yeah, him", said the man with a drawl. "No, I don't know where he went. He comes and goes all the time. He's just a nuisance, truth be told. Best not waste your time with him."

Ellie started at the man incredulously; mouth hanging open.

"He "comes and goes"? He's 7 years old! Who takes care of him?"

"I don't care. Listen, I've got my own family to take care of", replied the man, irritably. "Supplies are low enough as it is without wasting them on some half-feral kid that just steals them anyway", he added, bitterly.

"Yeah, real nice jackass, you just look after yourself, alright?", replied Ellie sourly, as she turned away. She was getting angry. Angry at the townsfolk for scorning the boy, angry at Tommy and Maria for letting this happen, and angry at the world for allowing a 7 year old kid to lose _both_ his parents.

As her anger boiled, decided to confront Maria. But before she could, she heard another voice. She turned to see a woman with dark brown hair calling her.

"Hey; did you say you were looking for Marcus?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Sure. We were in a group with him and his dad, but bless his soul his dad died in a hunter attack last winter. Since then the rest've us have tried to do our bit to look after him. Some more than others", she added with a frown, looking at the man Ellie had just spoken to.

"I'd have thought he'd be around here somewhere. He has a habit of running away but he's always around our house. Him and his dad used to live with us, you see. It's that one, over there. When you find him, tell him Aunt Sue's waiting for him".

The woman pointed out a house along the row, and Ellie, extremely grateful to the lady, thanked her repeatedly before heading over. But not before muttering one final "_" to the man as she passed him; resulting in a barrage of grumbling that remained unheeded as Ellie headed to the empty house. She quickly slipped through the front door; blinking as the bright summer sunlight disappeared behind her, plunging the hallway into darkness and disorienting her senses.

"Marcus?" Ellie called, to no reply, as she padded through the downstairs rooms. Apprehension growing; Ellie ascended the stairs; Maria's commanding voice drifting in from the street outside. Ellie didn't want to think what might happen if the boy wasn't here; even the suggestion was enough to panic her. Where else would she look? She didn't exactly know the local area. But neither did she want to go and tell Maria that she'd lost someone; not after Maria had done so much for her; she couldn't let her down like that.

Heartbeat quickening, she reached the top of the stairs and saw four closed doors. She placed her hand on the door handle to the nearest one, however just as she was about to open the door she suddenly froze. Quietly, almost on the edge of hearing, she could make out a soft sobbing sound emanating from a room further down the hall. Leaving the door unopened Ellie moved towards the source of the sound; another door covered in faded, peeling stickers of rainbows and footballs.

Gently pushing open the door she saw a children's room decorated with bright colours and pictures, unnervingly familiar to the countless ones she'd seen on her travels with Joel. In one corner of the room Ellie spotted a small figure sat on the threadbare carpet with their back to her. Heart suddenly tightening at the sight of the small child, Ellie moved closer.

"…Marcus?" she asked again, her voice almost a whisper.

The young boy suddenly jumped as he stopped sniffling; getting to his feet and turning around to look at Ellie with red eyes full of concern. She noticed that he had a small toy dinosaur held tightly by the tail in his left hand, and felt an abrupt sense of compassion looking at the boy. Maybe it was because he reminded her of herself at that age; she knew what it was like to always suffer constant upheaval; being moved from place to place; never having a home or a sense of family. Whatever the reason; Ellie desperately sympathized with the boy.

"Hey there…" Ellie said gently, slowly entering the room. The child began to back away from her towards the window at her movement; a look of fear appearing in his red, tearful eyes.

Ellie stopped, and instead knelt down onto the floor, facing the boy.

"My name's Ellie", she said, trying her best to appear sincere as she put on a kind smile. "And you're Marcus, right?"

The kid's eyes nervously flicked between her and the ground, as his mouth opened and closed helplessly. He was clearly agitated, Ellie saw, but she had no idea what to do to soothe him. _Coaxing terrified orphans out of their homes isn't exactly what I planned to do today_, she thought. Her mouth twisted as she thought, and her eyes fell again on the toy in Marcus' hand.

"Hey, is that a dinosaur?" She tried, pointing. The kid looked sheepishly down at the plastic toy in his hand.

"Dinosaurs are cool. You know, I had a friend who loved robots. But I always thought dinosaurs were way better", she said conspiratorially, adding a wink for good measure. She was desperately trying to feign confidence; she hoped that if she talked chattily, maybe she could put the boy at ease.

"Does he have a name?"

The boy stood motionless for a second, before shaking his head; his eyes still fixed on the floor.

"That's fine; he doesn't have to have one. He can just be Dino!" She said, happily.

Finally the boy began to smile, before letting out a faint giggle. At once, Ellie felt more at ease.

"Does Dino have any friends?" she hinted, questioningly.

Marcus thought for a moment before shuffling back over to the corner of the room, where Ellie saw there was a blanket and a small pile of items. He grabbed another toy out of the meager pile, before wandering closer to Ellie and holding it out to show her, sniffing absentmindedly.

"Oh, cool!" said Ellie, keeping up the pretense as she examined a small toy spaceship, missing a wing. "I love spaceships, too."

She casually swooped the broken spaceship through the space between them, making whooshing noises for the boy's entertainment. To her pride, he began to giggle as she acted the fool for him. Finally, she put the spaceship down again.

"You know…I don't have any dinosaurs around here, but I have some comics about space that I could show you?"

Marcus nodded eagerly this time, and even muttered a faint "uh-huh!"

"They're in my backpack outside; do you want to come with me and see them?"

Suddenly Marcus' demeanor changed, and though he didn't jump up; he shrunk back once more

_Yeah, _Ellie thought, _because that would be too easy, wouldn't it?_ She looked Marcus in his eyes, as she wiped the wetness from his eyes with the corner of her shirt.

"You don't want to leave your dad, do you?" Ellie said.

"This is my dad's house", said the boy, meekly, looking at the floor. "…won't be at the new house. Will he?"

Ellie's heart almost broke right there at the sight of the young orphan desperately clinging on to his father's memory. He wasn't wild, or a runaway, or even shy. He simply wanted to be close to the memories of his dad; and he thought that leaving this house would erase all of those memories.

_Well, I know how _that_ feels_, thought Ellie, with a sudden pang of sorrow.

"No, he won't", said Ellie, her own voice wavering. "But wanna know a secret? It doesn't really matter where you go, or who you stay with. Your dad will always be with you; right there". Ellie poked Marcus in the chest with that last comment.

"You know…I once had someone very special to me, as well. Someone I loved more than anything else in the world", said Ellie softly; her voice beginning to waver. "I always thought nothing could hurt us; that we would always be together. But...then she was taken from me. And my whole life was turned upside down. That was over a year ago; and not a day goes by that I don't wish that I could just go back home and be close to everything I loved most."

Ellie paused for a second; surprised at her own candor. She'd thought often about the events that had led up to the turmoil of the last year, but had rarely spoken of them, and even then only in passing. She had no idea why she'd just confided so much in a 7 year old boy when she still hadn't told Joel. Partly it was because the right time never seemed to present itself but mostly, it was because right now she could see her own grief etched in Marcus's face, and she empathized with him. He just needed a way to cope. _Don't we all?_ She thought.

"Wanna know a secret?" Ellie asked. "there _is _a way you can make sure that you keep your dad with wherever you go. Want me to show you how?"

Marcus nodded eagerly, as his eyes suddenly filled with hope. Ellie reached under the neckline of her t shirt, and pulled out a thin, metal chain, and showed it to Marcus.

"Can you see this? This used to belong to that person I was telling you about; the one that meant a lot to me. She's gone now; just like your dad is. But this belonged to her, and so I keep it close to me, so I can always remind myself of her, and keep her memory close to me. Sometimes", she said, almost speaking to herself, "…sometimes I just hold it, or look at it, and when I do, it helps me, because I draw strength from her memory."

Ellie looked around, her eyes settling again on the dinosaur that Marcus had so far refused to let go.

"Did your dad give you that, before he went away?" She asked.

"Yeah…." Replied the kid, nervously.

"I guess that reminds you of him a lot, huh?" She continued, with searching eyes. "Well then, if you're scared of leaving this house because of him; you can do the same thing as me. Look", she said, pointing to the toy dinosaur.

"All you need to do is make sure that you keep that near you all the time, alright? Keep it in your pocket, or in your backpack, or in a safe place you can go to once in a while. Because as long as that toy is always near you your dad will always be near you as well, and you can be strong, knowing that he's looking out for you".

Marcus looked at his toy for a moment, before grasping it tightly with both hands and holding it to his chest. Smiling, he looked back at Ellie. "Deal?", she asked, putting on her best smile in return.

"Deal", said Marcus.

"Great. Well listen; how about we get out of here, huh? I hear that your aunt Sue's waiting for you outside; how would you like to go see your new house with her?"

To Ellie's surprise, Marcus jumped up and grabbed the rest of his meager possessions; stowing them away in a vastly oversized rucksack that Ellie realized must've belonged to his dad. Finally, after carefully laying the dinosaur at the top of the pack, wrapped in his stained, blue blanket, he descended the stairs with Ellie, clearly in much better spirits. As they exited the house, Marcus ran over to the woman who had introduced herself as Sue, who picked him up in a warm embrace; before looking at Ellie over his shoulder. As Ellie strolled over to Maria, she could just make out Sue mouth the words "thank you" to her, before she set Marcus down on the ground, and bent down to speak to him herself.

As Ellie reached Maria, she handed back the list of names, with a tick mark next to each one, including Marcus'.

"Well done Ellie", said Maria, eyebrows raised. "Fast work; I'm impressed. Not an easy task to get these guys all together in one place without _something_ going wrong".

"Ah, well, when you've spent a year on the road with Joel, you kinda get used to grumpy people who think they know best!" Said Ellie, jokingly.

"I can see that", returned Maria with a chuckle. "And how about ostracized orphans? Have much dealings with them, on the road?" She added, nodding towards Marcus before turning a knowing eye to Ellie.

Ellie twisted her mouth in her telltale sign of thought, before looking up at Maria.

"Sometimes, people forget that just because you were born after the outbreak, doesn't mean you don't know what loss is. Sometimes those people know loss better than anyone; having to grow up in a world like this".

"Ain't that the truth", Maria replied softly, eyes looking into Elie's as if searching for something. Ellie held Maria's gaze for a split second, before Maria finally looked away, and said in her much more usual commanding tone of voice.

"Alright! How about we get this sorry bunch of folk some new homes!" Turning away from Ellie, she began to stroll towards the center of the large group of families. Ellie watched her for a moment as she began to corral the villagers once more, wondering what it was that Maria had been searching for in that gaze. Eventually she gave up and dismissed it as unimportant, and ran to rejoin the group as they began to move towards their new homes.

As they walked Ellie made an effort to talk and joke with the townsfolk; figuring it'd be important to get to know what she tried to think of as her fellow citizens. However while she chatted she heard other, hushed conversations about her in the background, and her apprehension began to return as she realised people were gossiping about her. This was only a small town, she remembered, so everybody knew everybody, and apparently news had already spread about Tommy's brother returning.

"Hey, you!" called a voice; what sounded like a male one. Frowning, Ellie bowed her head and kept on walking, a panic rising in her chest. The last thing she wanted was for someone to start asking her awkward questions; not without Joel around.

"Wait up!" called the voice, and before Ellie had time to react, she heard footsteps jogging up behind her. All of a sudden a young boy was walking next to her. he looked to be not much older than herself, but he was taller, with a thin build and light brown hair.

"You're Ellie, right? The one that's been helping out Maria?"

"Yeah..." mumbled Ellie, reservedly.

"I'm Josh", he said, holding out a hand. Ellie looked at it pointedly for a second before the boy returned it to his pocket; shoulders hunched.

"Listen, I just wanted to say; that thing with Marcus? That was pretty cool. He's an alright kid, but his pop's death messed him up a lot. He needed someone like you."

"How do you know about that?" Asked Ellie; frown deepening as her curiosity overcame her apprehension.

"Ah, you can hear 'em there", Josh sighed. "All they do all day is gossip. It's like, 'hello, not as if the world's ended or anything!' Right?"

Ellie remained silent, looking ahead.

"They bothering you? Look, don't take it to heart. They're like this with every new person that strolls through town; but the fact that you look Marcus under your wing like that? Well, that riled them up even more."

"What?" protested Ellie suddenly, "What was I supposed to do; leave him there?" She complained, waving her arm behind her.

"No, of course not. I _like_ Marcus, but most of the others never bothered to give him the time of day 'cause they're too up their own asses. Always some bullshit excuse about mouths to feed, or something. You helping him out like that made them all look bad in front of Maria. And for that, I salute you, good sir!"

Josh chuckled at his own joke as he raised his hand in mock salute.

"Hmph", said Ellie; still not entirely comfortable with this sudden change of events.

"Well anyway", he sighed, "I just wanted to let you know I thought you were pretty cool back there. I better go and help out my guys; but hopefully I'll se you around, Ellie!" Said Josh with a parting wink.

As he ran back to his group, he suddenly turned back to Ellie again, and cupped his hands,

"And don't fret!" He shouted, "You'll be old news in a few weeks! Trust me!" with a final laugh he turned and ran away, to the scowls of the other adults surrounding him.

Before long they reached the building site, located along the edge of town. Ellie was very impressed. Along a small dirt road lay a cluster of ten small, quaint, single story abodes built from the wood of the surrounding forests. Looking at them reminded Ellie of the tiny log cabins her and Joel had sometimes encountered and stayed overnight at when it was necessary to go off road, except these ones were considerably less coated in moss, and nowhere near a cluttered. _And they're probably corpse-free as well, lucky fuckers_, she thought to herself.

The potent, chemical aroma of freshly varnished and treated wood was strong in the air, along with the more natural, somehow reassuring smell of freshly sawed wood, emanating from the sawdust that was still strewn everywhere. Clearly Tommy and whoever he'd had helping him had worked very, very hard on these houses. It was obvious now why they had a housing problem; because they'd probably taken so long just to build these ten cabins.

And it wasn't just the cabins either, she realised, they would've had to move the giant, concrete slabs that served as a barricade, and then scavenge more materials to fill the gaps from the widening of the barricade, and have extra guards present while the barricade was being moved. It was a huge effort. She hoped these families appreciated it.

Finally it was a simple task of allocating each family to a house, because as Maria had said; "if we let them decide themselves they'd argue until the cows came home and still not come to a decision. First world problems, eh?".

Ellie wasn't too sure what she meant by that, but she thought it was a bit pointless to argue about who got to live where, unless it was arguing about who was going to live furthest away from the barricade.

Eventually, they got everyone settled after much complaining about the houses being too small, or too close to the wall, and how that family only had two people and they had 4, so they deserved two houses. It made Ellie sick to hear people complain about the effort that Tommy had put into building just these two houses, especially considering everything else that was going on _outside_ the walls, and she had to stop herself more than once from snapping at a family and saying they should go live _out there_ if they didn't like it.

At long last, and with the sun well past its highest point in the sky, Maria announced it was finally time.

"Wanna go and get a house?" She asked Ellie, who nodded enthusiastically.

Together they headed back towards the recently evicted street, shadows stretching ahead of them like obscene puppets in the receding sun.

"Why were they so ungrateful?" Ellie suddenly asked.

"Huh?"

"Those families. All they did was complain and…talk about me behind my back. Tommy didn't _have_ to build them those houses, he didn't even have to let them in here in the first place. They should've been more grateful."

Maria sighed as she walked, "They should, however they've been here a while now. They've gotten comfortable. People have a tendency to…forget what matters when they're used to a state of affairs. You ever heard the saying 'don't know what you got till it's gone'?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, that's these guys. They're used to living here, and used to feeling secure. They don't appreciate it any more, they just expect it."

"But that doesn't make it OK", Ellie persisted.

"Of course it doesn't, and I'm glad you see it like that. You've got a good head on your shoulders. But what could we do about it? We could punish them for being selfish, and it would change their tune for a little while, but in the long run it's always the same. It's wrong, of course, but it's just the way people work."

"Hmph, I'd never take anything for granted", said Ellie, thinking again back to everything Joel and her had been through, and the unknown sacrifice that he made. She promised herself she'd always be thankful for Joel's protection. She wasn't going to let his work be for nothing.

* * *

Joel and Tommy crouched together, grasping their pistols with clammy hands as they huddled behind the counter of the shop. Neither man dared to breathe as they listened to the banshee wails and screeches of the clickers in the basement; disturbed by the heavy fall of the bloater that had been propped against the door.

They'd taken stock of their weapons when they'd put their masks on, and it was a dire state of affairs. Both men had brought a pistol in case of any disturbance, and Joel had his hunting rifle in case they ran into any game in the woods, but they had no spare ammo, and all of Joel's other weapons; his bombs and molotovs, were all back home. He didn't even have a shiv. Desperately they stayed hidden, waiting to see what would happen, terrified into petrifaction from the fear of making any noise whatsoever.

Then, inevitably, he heard something that turned his blood to ice, and send a wave of shivers down his spine. Clumsy, shuffling feet on the wooden stairs. And getting closer.

Joel was suddenly aware of the heat of the summer's day, and a wave of prickly heat came over him, as his breathing increased. He turned to Tommy, whose face had turned shockingly gray.

"We've gotta get out of here", Tommy whispered, desperately

"Well we can't go out the front", replied Joel. "There's a damn bell above the front door; may as well jump up and announce where we are."

"Oh, shit", groaned Tommy.

A sudden shout from one of the clickers quietened both men again, before Joel continued.

"No back exit either, and there's god knows what in the basement. The only way is up; gotta find a way upstairs and see if we can get out that way."

Tommy nodded nervously; taking his elder brother's lead, and covertly pointed at the doorway to the basement.

"The staircase is back through there", he said anxiously.

Joel looked back and could see Tommy was right; through the doorway that had caused their current predicament, he could just make out that the staircase behind it lead _up, _as well as down.

"Well _,", he said to himself.

"They're nearly at the top of the stairs; how do we get round 'em?", muttered, Tommy, urgently. Joel paused for a second; eyes half closed. Listening.

"I count three of 'em, maybe four", he whispered quietly. "We can't fight off that many without attractin' a whole bunch more. But we can distract 'em."

Joel looked underneath the shop counter and let out a grunt of satisfaction. "This'll do", he said, fishing out a glass bottle, just as the first clicker reached the top of the stairs. The two brothers readied themselves.

"Alright, you stay on my tail. _Right_ on it; understand?"

Tommy nodded; hunkering down further as the unnatural clicking came ever closer, until it felt like it was in his head. Joel slowly raised his head above the level of the counter.

He'd only seen one clicker in the month or so since he'd escaped the hospital. Scavenging for supplies at a roadside gas station, he'd been fully armed and had a car to beat a hasty retreat to. This time, he had ten bullets and a horse half a block down the road. He hadn't been caught out this bad in years.

Spying over the counter he suppressed a gasp as he saw a shambling, twitching clicker almost directly in front of him; just a few feet away. He looked around and saw two more heads shuffling in between the shelves; heads turning this way and that. Joel picked his spot, closed his eyes for a second before opening them and lobbing the bottle over to the front window of the shop.

Bottle and window both shattered into a shower of glass shards, twinkling in the sunlight and throwing rainbows onto the walls. Instantly all three clickers screeched like banshees and converged on the window, climbing through and out into the street, as had been Joel's plan.

"Quick, quick! Move", Joel whispered to Tommy urgently, as he vaulted over the counter, landing softly on the balls of his feet. Quietly he crept along the wall of the shop, drawing quick, ragged breaths through his gasmask, until they both reached the rear of the shop. Outside, Joel could still hear the frenzied, agitated shrieks of the clickers as they searched blindly for a nonexistent prey.

They both crept through the door; Joel closing it behind them. "Okay, now, up the stairs; hurry!", Joel urged. Tommy obediently stepped on the first step on the stairs and placed his hand on the wooden rail.

Without warning, the wooden banister snapped clean off from the stairs, with an ear-splitting crack. Too late; Joel saw the rot that had set into the wood and cursed loudly as a large portion of the banister split off even louder, and crashed down to the basement below. Instantly Joel heard shrieks through the closed door, and hurried footfalls on broken glass. But that wasn't what grabbed Joel's attention.

Deep in the basement an animalistic roar bellowed out, like a bull about to charge, disorientating both men until they could barely stand.

"Oh, Christ" groaned Joel, "It's a fuckin' Bloater! Go, get up the stairs, NOW!""Turning to Tommy, Joel shoved him up the aged, rotten stairs; large chunks of wood snapping away under their feet and crashing into the basement. Finally they both crashed through the single door on the landing; falling into the room beyond. Without pausing for breath, Tommy scrambled to the door and slammed it shut with a crash, while Joel hauled a nearby bookcase over the doorway; body surging with adrenaline. Finally, hands on his knees, Tommy regained his breath; watching as Joel frantically looked around the room, before meeting his gaze.

"What do we do now?" he asked.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi Folks! here we are again with another update; not too much to say this time apart from as always, thanks for your kind comments and suggestions! Sorry to leave you on a bit of a cliffhanger for so long, but I admit that now I'm trying to take it more seriously I'm thinking a lot more about the plot, and less about the actual writing! (not to mention action sequences are pretty out of my comfort zone!)**

**Anyway as always I hope you enjoy, and please please please review, and leave any constructive criticism at all!**

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It seemed to be a bedroom, submerged in darkness; clearly the owners of the shop had lived just above. The room was an old sight to Joel; wardrobes plundered and abandoned to rot on the floor, bedside tables upturned, and moth eaten sheets that were once spotless, strewn across the room.

_Guess they abandoned it in more of a hurry than we bargained for,_ he thought.

While Tommy caught his breath, Joel hurriedly scanned the small room for any sign of escape. Heart pounding, his skin began to prickle as he realised that the only door in the room was the one they'd just barricaded. Finally his eyes found a sliver of bright sunlight piercing the gloom, and strode over to the window to throw open the heavy curtains, revealing a bay window beyond. As a cloud of dust was released from the decades old drapes, Joel released a groan as he gazed down on the street. Runners; at least half a dozen of them furiously battering on the door of the shop, while even more poured out of the nearby buildings; agitated by the screams of the clickers and the crack of the gunshots.

"Oh, Christ", said Tommy, approaching the window himself.

"That door's gonna give any second", Joel said, the command in his voice wavering for the first time.

"What are we gonna do?" Asked Tommy, the terror in his voice betraying the fact that despite his constant battles against the hunters, he hadn't had to deal with infected on this scale for a long time.

Joel scanned the room again, to no avail.

"There's far too many infected to make a stand. We gotta find a way out."

Desperation growing, he threw open the window and thrust his head out. Looking down, he saw a small ledge circling the building, dividing the second floor from the first. Up the street he could see the horses; still tied up, and thankfully unnoticed by the runners in their blind fury to get into the shop below. He noticed the house nextdoor, where a small porch similar to the one at Tommy's house jutted out from the main building.

"There" he said, through ragged breaths, pointing at the roof of the balcony. "If we climb out, we can jump over to that roof and lower each other down, and make a run for the horses."

_Sure, and if we don't fall,or die, or get spotted, we may get ten yards before they catch us_, said the same ominous voice that always rose from the dark areas of his mind in times like this.

Joel beckoned to Tommy, and pointed to the ledge.

"What? Are you mad?" shouted Tommy, incredulous.

"We don't have any god damned option, Tommy, and I don't plan on gettin' trapped here!" Joel barked, jabbing a finger in Tommy's breast. "I'll be damned if I'm going to die in a convenience store in some backwater village, not when I've finally brought Ellie to safety. I'm not going to die alone!"

Without giving Tommy an option, Joel gingerly stepped out onto the ledge; as always his aggressive tone betraying the fact that he was acutely aware that one misstep, one decayed brick, and he'd be tumbling to the ground - and worse. Cautiously, however, he began to shuffle along the wall, spread eagled. He looked back to see Tommy stepping out onto the ledge even more gingerly, if that was possible. Regretting his brashness, Joel shouted back.

"See? It's nothin', I've done this plenty o' times before, now move ya ass!"

Joel finally reached the corner of the shop, and looked down at the tiny alley separating the two buildings. The awning now looked to be much further away than he'd previously thought; the knowledge that he'd already performed this same jump more than once doing little to reassure him. Below, he suddenly heard the shatter of glass and the crash of splitting wood.

They're in the shop, Joel thought, a wave of hot panic washing over him again. Without a second thought, he braced his arm on the corner of the wall, and launched himself out into thin air; windmilling his arms frantically to propel himself forward. With a dull thunk, his boots slammed into the tiles of the balcony, before his own momentum threw him forward onto all fours. Half expecting to see runners and clickers pouring out of the shop again, he rolled over to check without even standing up. To his relief, the street remained empty, but he knew it was only a false sense of security, as even now they were probably pounding on the bedroom door. As if in answer to his fears, he suddenly heard another bang; this time much closer, and realised the infected must have already broken through.

"Tommy! RUN!" Joel shouted, urging his brother to hurry. Face a mask of terror; Tommy rapidly shuffled himself over to the same corner, while grasping, scaled, blooded arms groped through the open window a scant few feet from him.

Desperately, Tommy threw himself off the building, and Joel knew instantly that Tommy had misjudged the jump. His brother's arms flailed uselessly in the void, stretching out, however he already knew he was falling short. With a cry, he planted his arms on the roof of the balcony; his torso slamming into the side with a sickening crunch. However before he had time for anything else he found himself falling backwards.

With a cry Joel dove forward to reach his brother's arms, desperately scrabbling. Time slowed to a standstill as Joel's outstretched fingers hopelessly grasped for his brother, however he was too far away. With a cry, Tommy slipped off the roof completely, and landed on his back in the alley, with a sickening smack.

"Tommy!" Joel shouted, crawling on all fours to the edge before swinging himself over and lowering himself more gently.

"Ugh...I'm fine…" Tommy replied, picking himself up from the ground woozily as Joel descended. However as soon as he stood up his left leg suddenly gave way, and he stumbled into Joel.

"Ah god damn it, my fuckin' leg; I think it's sprained…"

"Can you walk?" muttered Joel; supporting Tommy while he scanned the entrance to the alley.

"Argh, I'm not sure!"

"Alright come on, I'll support you but we gotta get out of here before they hear us".

Heading back to the street, one arm supporting Tommy as he gritted his teeth through the pain, Joel cautiously peered out. To their right a couple hundred yards or so up the street, Joel could see the horses anxiously pacing around the bench their reins were tied to.

"Alright, coast looks clear; let's move", Joel whispered though hurried breaths. "They all think we're in the shop, so let's just take it slow and steady and we'll be fine".

_Yeah, keep tellin' yourself that old man_, he thought.

The two men began hobbling up the street slowly, Joel trying to keep his brother steady as he hopped along, wincing with each step. Heart pounding, Joel could still hear the frenzied shouts and cries of the runners and clickers as searched the shop in vain. Keeping them as much in the shadow of the buildings as he could, they made their way slowly and surely back to the horses.

Somehow, through sheer luck, Joel thought, they reached the bench and the horses without alerting any of the infected that had began pouring back out into the street. Counting his blessings with relief, Joel unhooked his arm from around Tommy's shoulder, who instantly flopped down onto the bench with a muted cry of pain. While Tommy attempted to massage his ankle, Joel hurried to untie the horses, who were now becoming more and more anxious at the sight of the infected, and the smell of the men's fear.

"Can you ride?" Joel asked, voice still hushed.

"Yeah…ah…I should be fine. Basically just sittin' right?" replied Tommy.

"Sure", Joel muttered, scowling. "Basically."

By now he'd managed to untie the first horse, and was attempting to bring it round to Tommy and help him on, when the horse began loudly whinnying and bucking.

"Christ, Tommy, shut the damn thing up, it's gonna bring 'em all down on us!" Joel hissed at his brother.

Tommy lurched back to his feet and attempted to stumble over to the panic-stricken animal, but this only served to frighten it further; and rearing up completely onto its hind legs, giving one final cry, the horse tugged it's reins free from Joel's hands and bolted away from the two men.

"No!" Joel cried helplessly, as he watched the horse disappear, and with dread he heard the unmistakable, terror inducing shriek of infected, suddenly locating their prey.

Relief at reaching the horses long since faded, Joel fumbled for his weapon as the runners, followed by the twitching, jerking clickers, began to head straight towards them with the surprising quickness of the infected that both men knew all too well.

"Here", Joel shouted, handing his revolver to Tommy, butt first. "Slow 'em down while I get the other horse!"

Nodding, Tommy took the weapon and licked his lips in concentration. Joel noticed he was trembling; whether that was from the pain or the increasing hopelessness of the situation, he had no idea. His own body tense from the adrenaline surging through him, Joel took a firm grip on the second horse's reins and began to untie. Next to him, his revolver began to bark in Tommy's hands.

Not having time to look up, he hoped and prayed that his brother's aim was true. Finally he managed to unloop the final knot in the reins, and taking firm hold of them in both hands, he wheeled the horse around before vaulting up in the saddle himself. Looking up, he saw a few bodies lay still on the ground, blood pooling in the street. However ten times their number were closing in. Closing in, and fast; they'd be on them in seconds. Grabbing the reins firmly in his right hand, he held his left down to Tommy, still sitting on the bench and trying in vain to slow the advance. Noticing the hand he shot to his feet, ignoring the pain in his knee. In one fluid motion he grabbed Joel's wrist and his brother swung him up and behind him, into the saddle. Tommy shouted out in agony with the effort of mounting the horse and all but collapsed onto Joel's back from the effort, but there was no respite. Before Joel had time to spur the horse, the first of the runners barrelled into the side of the horse.

Stumbling, the powerful creature somehow managed to keep Joel and Tommy upright. Joel aimed a fierce boot at the runner's face and connected squarely; lifting the fragile, wasted creature clean off it's back and propelling it away from them. Behind him, Tommy aimed his revolver at another and fired off two quick shots, exploding it's head in a shower of blood. The horse twisted and turned as if it too was looking for a way out, but still more were coming from every house on the street. If they didn't do something now, they were going to be hemmed in.

"I'm out!" Shouted Tommy, as he heard a hollow sounding click from his revolver.

Joel drew his own pistol and handed the weapon back to Tommy, who used it to take care of two more runners about to tackle into them. Desperation giving them no other options; Joel wheeled the horse around once more.

"Screw this, we're getting' out of here". With that he jabbed his heels sharply into the horse's flanks, crying out a sharp "Hyah!", and urged the horse onwards, straight towards the infected.

He'd half expected the horse to resist, but whether it was the fear, the terror, or something else completely, the animal bolted from the sidewalk like lightning, Joel and Tommy reeling in the saddle, and flew along the road. The closest infected; blood crazed, tried to charge the horse before it gained speed, but between Tommy's aim, Joel's heavy boot and the maddened horse's hoofs, they fell like leaves in the wind, all the while picking up even more speed.

Horse riding was old hat to Joel, but even still he was amazed at the intelligence of this creature. As if it was reading his mind, the horse always managed to dodge exactly when Joel needed it to, and when to simply keep on running and ride down anything in their way. Together they flew up the main street, back the way they had came, the horse barely struggling, galloping as if it was running wild, and not carrying two fully grown men.

As they rode, Joel looked at the town and the warzone it had suddenly become. Infected were everywhere like insects, stumbling and shouting at nothing, unaware that Joel and Tommy were even there, simply awakened by all the commotion. Looking at a huge cluster of infected clawing at something on the ground, Joel was suddenly sickened as he realised that through the mound of bodies, he could see the remains of a horse, being rapidly eviscerated. Finally they broke free from the horde as they reached the edge of the town; a few straggling infected outside the main group proving little challenge to them.

Joel did not look behind him as he rode up the hill they'd come down on the way into the town; the screams and shouts of the horde that was chasing him still was enough for him to want to concentrate on looking straight ahead. He knew that over the next few days these infected would return to their dark cellars and houses like the cave dwelling parasites that they were. However just as many were probably going to wander away and lose themselves in the forest, making a nasty surprise for anyone from Jackson that may venture out on patrol, or to forage.

_Well this is a mess, and then some_, Joel thought, worrying. They may have escaped immediate danger, but they may have just unleashed an even bigger problem. Tommy's case had proven that although the residents of Jackson had proved themselves time and time again against bandits looking to steal the town's resources for themselves, many of them hadn't so much as looked at an infected in months. They were out of practice. As Joel rode back into the safety and shade of the forest, he began to slow the frothing, panting horse down again; pitifully aware of the poor animal's burden, and amazed at the creature's strength and intuition. Behind him, he could hear Tommy's ragged breaths, coming through moans of agony.

"Oh my god", he panted, "I can't believe we made it…"

"Yeah, we ain't safe yet", Joel muttered, frowning. "Not until we get back to Jackson. How's the leg?"

"Fuckin' peachy, what do you think. You hurt?" Joel checked himself over, and realised, as he always did, that he had indeed picked up a few injuries in the affray.

Blood flowed freely from a gash in his hand where he'd broken the bedroom window of the shop, and he could feel various bruises under his shirt. He looked down and saw his boots, also coated in blood, although not his own. He bandaged his hand while he rode, and managed to find a small stream to quickly wash off the thick, clagging blood with his good hand. As hesitant as he was to stop still so close to the town, it was even more risky to ride around coated in infected blood with an open wound.

Grunting, he pulled himself up into the saddle and spurred the horse on to town; Tommy slumping behind him.

"Christ. That was too damn close", sighed Joel when they were back on the way.

Then before he knew it, the anger was upon him. Surpressed so far by the chaos of the situation it had been nothing more than a voice in his subconscious, but now they were safe, Joel's anger at Tommy's incompetence now boiled to the surface once more.

"I mean Jesus Tommy, what in the hell were ya thinkin'? Comin' here with no backup and hardly any god damned weapons, and no idea what was in there? We could've died, Tommy! What would Maria think? Ellie could've… " Joel trailed off, not wanting to think about what would've happened to her if he never came home.

To his surprise, however, Tommy didn't argue.

"I'm sorry Joel", he said through gritted teeth. "You're right. Was my stupid fault. Was too damn eager to show ya this place; shoulda prepared first."

Joel was taken aback at Tommy's sincerity. Back before they'd went their separate ways, he…well, he would've done the exact same thing, but he would of cried out till the cows came home that it wasn't his fault, and he wasn't supposed to know; any number of excuses and arguments to get out of taking responsibility and thinking about the people around him. For him to suddenly admit his failure and accept responsibility, showed that he had indeed matured…and that as much as he tried to mask it, he still craved his elder brother's protection.

"Don't mention it," Joel said, a little more softly.

"This is why the town needs you, Joel," Tommy carried on. "This is why I need you."

"Yeah", Joel growled, dismissively. "Let's just get back and warn 'em", Joel sighed.

They rode the rest of the way back to the town in silence. The journey back seemed to take three times as long, which it probably did, and by the time they saw the electrified fence of Jackson, the sun was nearing the horizon once again. As they approached the gates they were spotted by one of the guards in the towers, who, upon seeing their bloodied and dirtied clothes, immediately called down.

"Hey, what the hell happened?"

"Joe, that you? It's us", shouted Tommy in return, peering around Joel. "We ran into some trouble in the forest; open the gates, and fetch Maria!"

Tommy relaxed; and winced again as he shifted his leg. "And the god damned doctor as well!"

"We're on it, Tommy, get in, quick!" The gates to the town briefly swung open to let the horse through, before shutting again immediately.

All around them they could see the buzz of activity at the gates as the word was passed around, and runners were sent for help. Joel could tell that some form of emergency procedure was being followed, but he couldn't see what. All he could see was the anxiety and concern; clear on everyone's face. As they dismounted, a couple of townsfolk headed over to help Tommy down and take care of the horse.

"They're expectin' trouble", Tommy said, leaning on the wall to take the weight off his leg. "They always get like this. They don't know what kind of trouble, but they know it's comin'. We need to spread the word, before people start workin' emselves up into a panic."

"Let's just see to you first, then we can get the word out", Joel replied.

A few moments later he saw a group of men, all armed, running towards the gate. They split into groups, one going up to one side of the wall, and one to the other, before taking positions and scanning the darkening landscape beyond the walls. _They've set up an emergency response team_, Joel thought, impressed with their forethought. _Guess they've learned the hard way_. But before he had time to ask, he heard a shout and looked up the street. Maria and Ellie had appeared, both riding down the road on a horse of their own.

Before he knew it they were at the gate; Maria dismounted with a cry upon seeing Tommy's pale grimace and ran to him, immediately questioning him with a wavering voice on what had happened and how badly he was injured. Meanwhile, Ellie, concern etched in her face, had ran to Joel at the same time.

"Joel! Oh my god, what the fuck happened? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine; ran into some trouble out in the woods but don't worry, we're alright", Joel said, smiling unconvincingly.

"Is it true? About the attack?" she asked, eyes still wide.

"Yeah it's true, I'll tell you all about it later but keep it quiet, ok? We don't want to panic anyone just yet"

"Sure, sure", she said, nodding. Suddenly she noticed Joel's makeshift bandage and grabbed his forearm; pulling it to take a look.

"Your arm.." Ellie said, looking up again.

"It's just a scratch", he said, chuckling to himself as he was touched by the greatness of Ellie's concern for him. "Honest", he said, looking into her eyes. "I'm fine." Ellie sighed, and visibly relaxed.

"Oh man, we got so worried when we got back and saw you weren't there! Maria sent someone down to the gate to check, but then this guy came and said you'd come back and you were hurt so we grabbed a horse to get here as soon as we could…and then on the way down people were talking about some attack..." Ellie stopped and half-choked, before she swallowed a gulp of air.

She was still edgy; speaking frantically and barely taking pause for a breath; as she always was whenever she was relieved. Joel grabbed her shoulders with trembling hands, almost lost for words himself at Ellie's obvious concern for his safety.

"Stop, stop, stop, woah," he said, chuckling again. "Slow down, we're fine, don't worry."

"Thank god," Ellie sighed, before shoving him with both hands. "You nearly gave me a fucking heart attack; I'm here being a fucking tour guide and you're out there getting in all kinds of shit! I should've been there".

"What? No you shouldn't; your place is here now. Just because we're here doesn't mean I'm gonna stop tryin' to protect you!"

"Yeah, and how're you gonna do that when you're both dead in a ditch somewhere, huh?" Ellie retorted.

Joel was momentarily at a loss for words; she had a point. She'd handled herself time and time again; whereas once he'd protected her, now they looked out for each other.

"Yeah, thought that'd keep you quiet", she joked, before abruptly looking down at her feet. "I...ah...fuck it, I need you Joel, ok? Just because we're here now doesn't mean that's changed. Just...please don't get yourself killed. OK?"

"I won't", Joel said, straight away, lifting her head so he could meet her eyes. "I need you too, ok? And I'll always be here. I promise".

And with that he wrapped his arms around her, embracing her this time without any hurry or haste; simply love. He _did_ need her; he knew that now more than ever. The thought and the fear of dying in that infested town, away from her, had finally helped him understand just how much he'd changed; just how much Ellie had changed him.

He'd promised he'd always be there for her.

And this time, it was a promise he meant.


End file.
